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Updated: Jun 24, 2026

Prostaglandin Extraction and Analysis in Caenorhabditis elegans
Published on: June 25, 2013
Dietary omega-3 fatty acids, cyclooxygenase-2 genetic variation, and aggressive prostate cancer risk
Vincent Fradet1, Iona Cheng, Graham Casey
1Departments of Urology, Institute for Human Genetics, University of California at San Francisco, San Francisco, California 94143-0794, USA.
Purpose:
Dietary intake of long-chain omega-3 (LC n-3) polyunsaturated fatty acids may reduce inflammation and in turn decrease risk of prostate cancer development and progression. This potential effect may be modified by genetic variation in cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), a key enzyme in fatty acid metabolism and inflammation.
Experimental Design:
We used a case-control study of 466 men diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer and 478 age- and ethnicity-matched controls. Diet was assessed with a semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire, and nine COX-2 tag single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) were genotyped. We used logistic regression models to estimate odds ratios (OR) for association and interaction.
Results:
Increasing intake of LC n-3 was strongly associated with a decreased risk of aggressive prostate cancer (P(trend)
Conclusions:
Dietary LC n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids appear protective for aggressive prostate cancer, and this effect is modified by the COX-2 SNP rs4648310. Our findings support the hypothesis that LC n-3 may impact prostate inflammation and carcinogenesis through the COX-2 enzymatic pathway.
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