Higher ω-3 Fatty Acid Levels Are Associated with Risk for Prostate Cancer

In the randomized SELECT trial, vitamin E supplementation raised risk for prostate cancer compared with placebo (NEJM JW Gen Med Oct 25 2011). Now, researchers have used data from SELECT to confirm findings from a previous case-control study, published in 2011, that showed a positive association between ω-3 fatty acid levels and risk for high-grade prostate cancer (Am J Epidemiol 2011; 173:1429).

The researchers performed a case-control study in which they compared 834 men with prostate cancer (diagnosed during SELECT) and 1393 age- and race-matched controls without prostate cancer. Plasma ω-3 fatty acid levels were measured in stored blood samples collected at the beginning of the trial. In analyses adjusted for potentially confounding vari…