High levels of polyunsaturated fat may inhibit cancer growth

BMJ 1996;312:511 (24 February)

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High levels of polyunsaturated fat may inhibit cancer growth

EDITOR,--Mahmoud Zureik and colleagues report a striking reductionin cancers of all types in association with high levels of polyunsaturatedfat in blood cholesterol esters.¹ They reject a causal hypothesis,partly because the inverse association of cancer with polyunsaturatedfat is not site specific.

This rejection of a causal hypothesis may be premature. In 1956Sinclair suggested that high levels of polyunsaturated fat mightprotect against a range of cancers.² In the past decade investigatorsfrom many laboratories have reported that concentrations ofpolyunsaturated fatty acids that do not harm normal cells inhibitthe growth of, or kill, over 40 human cancer cell lines.³ ⁴⁵ Thus a plausible biological basis exists for an inhibitoryeffect of high levels of polyunsaturates on cancer growth.

Chief executive Scotia Holdings, Peasmarsh, Guildford, SurreyGU3 1NA

David F Horrobin

Zureik M, Ducimetiere P, Warnet J-M, Orssaud G. Fatty acid proportions in cholesterol esters and risk of premature . . . [Full text of this article]

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