By David Liu, PHD

Tuesday Jan 22, 2013 (foodconsumer.org) -- Pancreatic cancer risk may be reduced by eating oily fish, which is high in omega-3 fat and non-fried fish, according to a study in American Journal of Epidemiology.

Dr. Ka He from School of Public Health, Indiana University Bloomington in Bloomington, IN, USA and colleagues conducted the observational study and found inverse associations between eating oily fish and non-fried fish, and risk of pancreatic cancer.   

Oily fish such as salmon has high amounts of omega-3 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFAs).

Specifically, those who in the highest tertile of intake of long chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and nonfried fish were 38 percent and 45 percent less likely to develop pancreatic cancer, respectively, compared with those in the lowest tertile.

The researchers found the associations after analysing data from 66,616 adults aged 50 to 76 years who participated in the VITamins And Lifestyle cohort study in western Washington State.

For the study, dietary information was collected from participants through a food frequency questionnaire and pancreatic cancer cases were identified from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results cancer registry.  During an average follow-up of 6.8 years, 151 cases of pancreatic cancer were recorded.

The type of omega-3 fatty acids made some difference.   Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) had a stronger association with pancreatic cancer risk than eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA). 

There was no statistically significant association observed between eating fried fish and shellfish and risk of pancreatic cancer.

The researchers concluded "LC-PUFAs, particularly docosahexaenoic acid, and nonfried fish, but not shellfish or fried fish, may be beneficial in the primary prevention of pancreatic cancer."

Pancreatic cancer is highly deadly. Less than five percent of pancreatic cancer are able to live over five years to become a survivor.