Serum Phospholipid Fatty Acids and Prostate Cancer Risk: Results From the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial

• Published in: American journal of epidemiology Vol. 173; no. 12; pp. 1429 - 1439
• Main Authors: BRASKY, Theodore M, TILL, Cathee, WHITE, Emily, NEUHOUSER, Marian L, XIAOLING SONG, GOODMAN, Phyllis, THOMPSON, Ian M, KING, Irena B, ALBANES, Demetrius, KRISTAL, Alan R
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cary, NC Oxford University Press 15.06.2011; Oxford Publishing Limited (England)
• Subjects: 5-alpha Reductase Inhibitors - therapeutic use; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Biological and medical sciences; Case-Control Studies; Clinical trials; Disease prevention; Epidemiology; Fatty acids; Fatty Acids, Omega-3 - blood; Fatty Acids, Omega-6 - blood; Finasteride - therapeutic use; General aspects; Gynecology. Andrology. Obstetrics; Humans; Male; Male genital diseases; Medical sciences; Mens health; Middle Aged; Nephrology. Urinary tract diseases; Original Contributions; Prevalence; Prevention and actions; Prostate cancer; Prostatic Hyperplasia - blood; Prostatic Hyperplasia - drug therapy; Prostatic Hyperplasia - pathology; Prostatic Neoplasms - blood; Prostatic Neoplasms - epidemiology; Prostatic Neoplasms - prevention & control; Public health. Hygiene; Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine; Risk Factors; Tumors; Tumors of the urinary system; Urinary tract. Prostate gland; United States > US; Prostate tumor; Urinary system disease; Trial; Prostate disease; Phospholipid; Risk; Histology; Inflammation; Malignant tumor; phospholipids; Fatty acids; Epidemiology; Result; Prevention; Risk factor; prostatic neoplasms; Clinical trial; Serum; Male genital diseases; Prostate cancer; Public health; Cancer
• ISSN: 0002-9262; 1476-6256
• DOI: 10.1093/aje/kwr027

Inflammation may be involved in prostate cancer development and progression. This study examined the associations between inflammation-related phospholipid fatty acids and the 7-year-period prevalence of prostate cancer in a nested case-control analysis of participants, aged 55-84 years, in the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial during 1994-2003. Cases (n = 1,658) were frequency matched to controls (n = 1,803) on age, treatment, and prostate cancer family history. Phospholipid fatty acids were extracted from serum, and concentrations of ω-3, ω-6, and trans-fatty acids (TFAs) were expressed as proportions of the total. Logistic regression models estimated odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals of associations of fatty acids with prostate cancer by grade. No fatty acids were associated with low-grade prostate cancer risk. Docosahexaenoic acid was positively associated with high-grade disease (quartile 4 vs. 1: odds ratio (OR) = 2.50, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.34, 4.65); TFA 18:1 and TFA 18:2 were linearly and inversely associated with risk of high-grade prostate cancer (quartile 4 vs. 1: TFA 18:1, OR = 0.55, 95% CI: 0.30, 0.98; TFA 18:2, OR = 0.48, 95% CI: 0.27, 0.84). The study findings are contrary to those expected from the pro- and antiinflammatory effects of these fatty acids and suggest a greater complexity of effects of these nutrients with regard to prostate cancer risk.