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Updated: Jul 17, 2026
Necropsy-based Wild Fish Health Assessment
Published on: September 11, 2018
Fish intake and risk of liver cancer: a meta-analysis
Rui-Xue Huang1, Yan-Ying Duan1, Jian-An Hu1
1Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan Province, China.
Background:
Increasing laboratory findings indicate that n-3 fatty acids, mainly derived from fish, inhibit cancer development and progression, but results from epidemiologic studies have been inconsistent and inconclusive.
Objective:
To evaluate the association of fish intake with risk of liver cancer by conducting a meta-analysis.
Methods:
Published case-control/cohort studies that evaluated the relationship between total fish intake and risk of liver cancer were found on PubMed and EMBASE. The pooled relative risks (RRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were obtained with the random-effects model.
Results:
Five retrospective case-control studies and 5 prospective cohort studies were included in the final analysis, involving a total of 3 624 liver cancer cases. Comparing the highest with the lowest category of total fish intake, the pooled RRs of liver cancer were 0.79 (95% CI, 0.59-1.06) for case-control studies, 0.82 (95% CI, 0.70-0.96) for cohort studies and 0.82 (95% CI, 0.71-0.94) for all studies combined. The protective effects of total fish intake against liver cancer were confirmed by stratified and sensitivity analyses. In addition, an increase in fish intake of 1 serving/week was estimated to be significantly associated with 6% lower risk of liver cancer (RR = 0.94, 95% CI, 0.91-0.98).
Conclusions:
Findings from this meta-analysis suggest that a higher fish intake is associated with reduced risk of liver cancer.
