Omega-3 Fatty Acids Result in Death of Ovarian Cancer Cells In Vitro

By Kyle J. Norton


Cancer is the class of chronic disease caused by irregular cell growth in the tissue or specific organ in the body due to the alternation of cell DNA.

Most cases of cancer begin in the cells on the surface of the inner lining tissues of the organ or gland. At the early stage, most cancers are asymptomatic.

However, at the advanced stage, most cancers not can induce common symptoms such as gastrointestinal discomforts, unintended weight loss, loss of appetite and fatigue but also localized symptoms depending on the affected tissues and organs.

The ovaries are oval-shaped ovum-producing reproductive organ formed part of women reproductive system that connects to the fallopian tubes and attaches to the outer layer of the uterus via the ovarian ligament. Usually, the left and right ovary take a turn to release an egg every month.

In other words, the main functions of the ovary play a critical role in producing oocytes (eggs) for fertilization and reproductive growth hormones, estrogen, and progesterone.

According to the statistics, ovarian cancer is one of the fifth most common cancer, accounting for more deaths than any other cancer of the female reproductive system in the US.

The lifetime risk of getting ovarian cancer is a woman is about 1 in 78.comapred to the lifetime of dying from ovarian cancer risk of 1 in 108.

The exact causes of ovarian cancer are not identified. However, epidemiological studies suggested that women who have endometriosis, genetic preposition such as BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene, acquired genetic mutation such as the TP53 tumor suppressor gene are susceptible to the substantial risk of the development of the disease.

Besides sharing the common symptoms of other types of cancer, most ovarian cancer patients may experience symptoms of discomfort in the pelvic area, changes in bowel habits, such as constipation. and a frequent need to urinate.

According to the statistics provided by the Canadian Cancer Society, in Canada, the 5-year net survival for ovarian cancer is 45%. 

In other words, on average,  45% of women diagnosed with ovarian cancer will survive for at least 5 years.

Omega-3 fatty acids are phytochemicals in the class of lipids, found abundantly in deepsea fisk, dark-green leafy vegetables, grains, legumes, nuts, etc.

The three main components of Omega-3 fatty acids are alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA).

On finding a potential phytochemical for the treatment of cancer, researchers investigated the effect of OM-3FAs on epithelial ovarian cancer cell lines.

According to the results of 3 epithelial ovarian cancer cell lines (SKOV-3 [p53 null], TOV-21G [wt p53] and OVCAR-3 [mutant p53]) and one immortalized ovarian surface epithelial cell line (IOSE-29 [wt p53]) treated with OM-3FAs, OM-3FAs showed a statistically significant inhibitory effect in all four cell lines.

Furthermore, in the p53 null and mutant cell lines, SKOV-3 and OVCAR-3, the application of OM-3FAs showed inhibitory activity without inducing apoptosis and down-regulated expression of VEGF.

However, the apoptosis and/or VEGF down-regulation was strongly evident in the wt p53 cell lines TOV-21G and IOSE-29.

Collectively, researchers said, "under the influence of OM-3FAs, there are definitive growth-suppressive mechanisms at work and that the biologic effects of OM-3FAs may in part be mediated by the p53 status".

Taken altogether, Omega-3 fatty acids found abundantly in fish oil and plant oil may be considered a functional food for the treatment of ovarian cancer, pending to the confirmation of the larger sample size and multicenter human study.

Intake of Omega-3 fatty acids in the form of supplements should be taken with extreme care to prevent overdose acute liver toxicity.


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Author Biography
Kyle J. Norton (Scholar, Master of Nutrition, All right reserved)
Health article writer and researcher; Over 10.000 articles and research papers have been written and published online, including worldwide health, ezine articles, article base, health blogs, self-growth, best before it's news, the karate GB daily, etc.,.
Named TOP 50 MEDICAL ESSAYS FOR ARTISTS & AUTHORS TO READ by Disilgold.com Named 50 of the best health Tweeters Canada - Huffington Post
Nominated for shorty award over last 4 years
Some articles have been used as references in medical research, such as international journal Pharma and Bioscience, ISSN 0975-6299.

Sources
(1) The effects of Omega-3 fatty acids on growth regulation of epithelial ovarian cancer cell lines by Sharma A1, Belna J, Logan J, Espat J, Hurteau JA. (PubMed)
(2) Intake of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids and risk of ovarian cancer by Ibiebele TI1, Nagle CM, Bain CJ, Webb PM. (PubMed)