title: Improving outcome of chemotherapy of metastatic breast cancer by docosahexaenoic acid: a phase II trial.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Breast cancer becomes lethal when visceral metastases develop. At this stage, anti-cancer treatments aim at relieving symptoms and delaying death without resulting in additional toxicity. On the basis of their differential anti-oxidant defence level, tumour cells can be made more sensitive to chemotherapy than non-tumour cells when membrane lipids are enriched with docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), a peroxidisable and oxidative-stress-inducing lipid of marine origin.
  
  
  METHODS
  This open-label single-arm phase II study evaluated the safety and efficacy (response rate), as primary end points, of the addition of 1.8 g DHA daily to an anthracycline-based chemotherapy (FEC) regimen in breast cancer patients (n = 25) with rapidly progressing visceral metastases. The secondary end points were time to progression (TTP) and overall survival (OS).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The objective response rate was 44%. With a mean follow-up time of 31 months (range 2-96 months), the median TTP was 6 months. Median OS was 22 months and reached 34 months in the sub-population of patients (n = 12) with the highest plasma DHA incorporation. The most common grade 3 or 4 toxicity was neutropaenia (80%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  DHA during chemotherapy was devoid of adverse side effects and can improve the outcome of chemotherapy when highly incorporated. DHA has a potential to specifically chemosensitise tumours.
authors.affiliation: INSERM U921 Nutrition, Croissance et Cancer, Tours, France. bougnoux@med.univ-tours.fr
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bougnoux
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hajjaji
authors.forename: M N
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Ferrasson
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Giraudeau
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Couet
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Le Floch
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D004281:Docosahexaenoic Acids / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D004281:Docosahexaenoic Acids