Chapter Five

FIGHTING CANCER

Q. What exactly is cancer?

A. Cancer is a disease where the uncontrolled growth and multiplication of a certain group of cells result in their consuming all available nutrients, starving healthy cells to death. A cancerous cell is simply a once-normal cell which can't stop growing and multiplying. For instance, a normal cell contains genes which instruct it to stop growing. Sometimes, these "stop-sign" genes are damaged by free radicals and a cell becomes cancerous. This cancerous cell keeps growing and then reproduces. Now there are two cells which can't stop growing. Soon the reproduction process repeats, and four, eight, sixteen, thirty-two, and on and on, until very quickly, millions and billions of cancerous cells exist. The cancerous cells rob the rest of the body of nutrients, and the cancer patient soon literally starves to death.

Q: What causes cancer?

A. Many things can damage the genes which normally instruct the cell to stop growing. Excessive amounts of free radicals, those highly unstable molecules which seem to play significant roles in so many disease processes, can directly destroy genetic material. These free radicals are generated from natural processes in our own bodies (via energy production, fighting infections, certain medications), the environment (from pollution, smoking, toxic chemicals, excess exposure to the sun and other radiation sources), as well as other free radicals. Indeed, cancer cells themselves produce copious amounts of free radicals, and as more cancer cells are produced in the self-propagating chain, more and more free radicals are produced, leading to further damage. Quickly things can get out of control. Clearly, cancer is a deadly disease.

In the early stages of cancer, the immune system tries to contain the proliferating mass by surrounding it with a tough, protective net. Hopefully, this will contain the cancer and keep it from spreading. However, free radicals can destroy the net, and the cancer breaks out of the confinement.

Q: What are some of the current methods of treating cancer?

A: Conventionally, the strategy against cancer is kill the cancerous cells themselves with chemicals (chemotherapy) or radiation (such as x-rays). Ironically, though, both these methods are based on producing even more free radicals to kill the offending cells. Unfortunately, this barrage of free radicals will indiscriminately destroy healthy cells as well. As a result, the cancer patient experiences terrible side effects from the treatment, such as loss of hair, weight, energy, immunity, and mental alertness. In certain cases, the treatment is more deadly than the original disease!

Other researchers are exploring how antioxidant drugs and nutrients may benefit. Antioxidants help quench free radicals. They have been used to effectively alleviate the side effects of chemotherapy, and potentially, they can help actually treat the cancer. The medical establishment already acknowledges their role in preventing cancer, which is why we are urged to eat plenty of fruits and vegetables, rich sources of natural antioxidants.

Q: How can DHA help?

A: Large population studies first gave researchers a clue that fatty acids such as DHA may help prevent cancer. These studies associate high dietary intake of fish and fish oils seems with lower incidence of certain cancers. Taking this hint, Dr. M. Oshima at the Banyu Tsukuba Research Institute in Japan led a team of scientist to study how would affect cancer development in mice. The team used a very special breed of mice, in which a genetic mutation in the Apc (adenomatous polyposis coli) gene induced cancer formation. These mice represent a model for a corresponding human cancer, since damage to the human Apc gene leads to many forms of cancer in the digestive tract.

The mice were separated into a control group, which were fed a standard diet, and an experimental group, which received DHA in addition to the standard diet. The experimental group received DHA in the amount of 4 g/kg body weight. At the end of seven weeks, the mice were examined for the number and size of cancerous polyps. The results showed an interesting difference between female and male mice.

The control group females (which received no DHA) developed an average of 220 polyps. However, the DHA-fed females developed only 68, less than a third of their control group counterparts, a staggering difference. (Remember that these mice were all genetically predisposed to getting cancer.) Moreover, the size of the polyps in the DHA group were significantly smaller than those in the control group. The males were less fortunate, though. The DHA-fed males developed fewer polyps, but not enough to make be statistically significant. The size of polyps were smaller in the DHA group, but the difference was not as great as seen in the DHA-fed females. Clearly, Dr. Oshima demonstrated that DHA can inhibit cancer due to Apc gene mutation, but how it did and why females benefited so much more than males are questions to be answered as more research is done.

Q: How might DHA help in human breast cancer?

A: Women with breast cancer have lower levels of DHA in their breast tissue compared to healthy women. This finding led Dr. M. Noguchi of the Kanazawa University Hospital in Japan to examine the effects DHA and EPA had on cell cultures of human breast cancer. These cancerous cells are grown in a dish in a laboratory, where researchers can carefully measure what biochemicals they are secreting. Such knowledge helps the scientists discover how these cells respond to other chemicals (such as DHA) in a controlled environment and elucidate their biochemical mechanisms.

The researchers added DHA and EPA separately into the cancer cell cultures and observed that in both cases, the cells secreted much less prostaglandin E and leukotriene B, biochemicals which are involved in telling the cell to proliferate. As a result, the cancer cells' growth was suppressed. Hence, DHA and EPA directly and definitely affect cancer cells, and while the exact mechanism is still being worked out, their use in treating and preventing certain cancers is very promising.

Well-designed clinical human studies using these fatty acids against cancer have yet to be completed. Until we carefully consider the results of such studies, DHA's role in fighting cancer remains unofficial. Based on the epidemiological, animal, and cell culture studies, all signs seem to point to the day when we will include DHA as an important factor in controlling certain cancers.