Data published in a recent issue of Cancer Research reported that researchers at Texas A&M University, using GE Healthcare's CodeLink microarrays, have identified key changes in gene expression that provide an improved understanding of how dietary fat composition affects the initiation and promotional stages of tumor development in the colon. These findings indicate that the chemopreventive effect of fish oil is due to the direct action of a particular type of polyunsaturated fatty acid, n-3 PUFA.
Second only to lung cancer, colon cancer is a major cause of cancer death in the United States. According to the American Cancer Society, currently more than 106,370 people are diagnosed with colon cancer, and 56,730 die each year. Environmental factors, including diet, are known to influence colon cancer incidence, and the discovery of how diet influences the progression of the disease may ultimately bring researchers closer to understanding methods of promoting prevention and halting progression.