Department of Clinical Medicine, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy.
Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care. 2013 Mar;16(2):156-61. doi: 10.1097/MCO.0b013e32835d2d99.
Significant achievements have been obtained in cancer treatment, but the clinical relevance of drug approach in daily practice remains questionable due to the high costs, limited efficacy, and negligible influence on quality of life. A new concept is emerging which is based on the early combination of chemotherapy and nutrition therapy.
Inflammation dictates tumour initiation, progression and growth. Omega-3 fatty acids exert anti-inflammatory effects, and therefore recent studies investigated their role in cancer prevention, in cancer cachexia treatment and in enhancement of antitumour therapies. Limited evidence suggests a role for omega-3 fatty acid supplementation in cancer prevention, but they have been shown to preserve muscle mass and function in cancer patients even during active treatment. During chemotherapy, omega-3 fatty acids may contribute to a reduced inflammatory response, but whether cancer treatment toxicity can be prevented remains to be assessed. Finally, small studies showed that omega-3 fatty acids increase response rate to chemotherapy.
Combination of chemotherapy and omega-3 supplementation appears an effective strategy to enhance the clinical outcome of cancer patients in their curative and palliative clinical trajectory.
在癌症治疗方面已经取得了重大进展，但由于成本高、疗效有限且对生活质量的影响微不足道，药物治疗方法在临床实践中的相关性仍存在疑问。一种新的概念正在出现，它基于化疗和营养治疗的早期联合。
炎症决定了肿瘤的发生、进展和生长。ω-3 脂肪酸具有抗炎作用，因此最近的研究调查了它们在癌症预防、癌症恶病质治疗和增强抗肿瘤治疗中的作用。有限的证据表明ω-3 脂肪酸补充剂在癌症预防中的作用，但它们已被证明可在癌症患者中保持肌肉质量和功能，即使在积极治疗期间也是如此。在化疗期间，ω-3 脂肪酸可能有助于减轻炎症反应，但癌症治疗毒性是否可以预防仍有待评估。最后，小型研究表明，ω-3 脂肪酸可提高化疗的反应率。
化疗和 ω-3 补充剂的联合使用似乎是增强癌症患者在治愈和姑息治疗临床轨迹中临床效果的有效策略。
