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St Mark’s Hospital fish oil study could find solution to bowel cancer
A clinical study undertaken at St Mark’s Hospital, offers hope for thousands of patients at risk of developing an inherited form of bowel cancer - and it could lead to a preventative treatment for all forms of the disease, the third most common cancer in the UK, diagnosed in around 37,000 people each year.
During a randomised, placebo-controlled trial, the St Mark’s team observed the condition of 55 patients with a rare inherited condition called FAP (familial adenomatous polyposis) over six months. Twenty eight patients were given 2 grams daily of a new highly purified formulation of the omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid EPA (called Alfa). Researchers observed a significant reduction in the number and size of polyps (pre-cancerous growths) in this group, whilst the placebo group showed an increase in polyp number and size over the same period.
Ms Sue Clark, Consultant Colorectal Surgeon and Assistant Director of the Polyposis Registry at St Mark’s, said: “Because we are the national centre for this condition we were seeing patients who were an excellent group to study and we believe the results for FAP patients could be extended to all bowel cancer patients in the future, although this particular fish oil agent will need to be made widely available.”
The study, funded by SLA Pharma AG, was a collaboration between researchers at Leeds Institute of Molecular Medicine, St James’s University Hospital, Leeds, St Mark’s Hospital London, St George’s Hospital, London and Sant’Orsola-Malpighi Hospital, Bologna.
Around 85 per cent of people diagnosed with bowel cancer are over the age of 60. The Department of Health has introduced a screening programme for those aged between 60 and 75 and older people can request to be included through their GP.
Reference:
Eiosapentaenoic acid reduces rectal polyp number and size in familial adenomatous polyposis.
NJ West, SK Clark, RKS Phillips, JM Hutchinson, RJ Leicester, A Belluzzi and MA Hull.
Gut 2010; 59: 918-925.
