Omega-3: The Fish-Cancer Connection - March 2002

Laura Jenski, Ph.D., professor and head of biological sciences at Marshall University in West Virginia, has been studying omega-3 fatty acids and their effect on cancer for more than a decade. Studies with colleague William Stillwell, Ph.D., explored the effect of different oils. Their research showed that diets rich in the omega-3s slowed tumor growth.

Jenski, Stillwell and colleagues have also explored the role of omega-3 in treating cancer. They designed a novel phospholipid (fat found in all living cells) that contains an omega-3 fatty acid called DHA, and an anticancer drug, methotrexate. It is put in a microscopic sac that is used to deliver drugs to a cell or tissue.

“Both the drug and the DHA are delivered to the cancer cell at the same time. We think that the DHA and methotrexate work in different ways to eliminate cancer, and we think together they work synergistically,” Jenski says.