Omega-3 Fatty Acids and Chemotherapy: A Dangerous Combination?

The following is a brief literature review to accompany our full article on the interaction between omega-3 fatty acids and chemotherapeutic drugs in cancer patients.

• Advise patients to abstain from fish oil supplements for at least one day before and after chemotherapy.
• Suggest that patients also avoid eating fatty fish — mackerel, and sardines, for instance, — for at least one day before and after chemotherapy.
• The fatty acid 16:4(n-3) has been shown to have chemotherapy-negating effects and was rapidly taken up in the plasma of human volunteers.
• Strength of this finding: 3/5.

You can see our review article here.

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