Association between Serum Phospholipid Fatty Acids and Intraprostatic Inflammation in the Placebo Arm of the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial.
Inflammation may play an etiologic role in prostate cancer. Several dietary factors influence inflammation; studies have shown that long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids are anti-inflammatory, whereas n-6 and trans fatty acids are proinflammatory. We evaluated whether serum phospholipid n-3, n-6, and trans fatty acids were associated with intraprostatic inflammation, separately in 191 prostate cancer cases and 247 controls from the placebo arm of the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial (PCPT). Men without a prostate cancer diagnosis underwent prostate biopsy at trial end, and benign prostate tissue inflammation was evaluated in approximately three biopsy cores per man; this was expressed as no, some, or all cores with inflammation. In controls, serum eicosapentaenoic acid [OR of all cores with inflammation versus none (95% CI), 0.35 (0.14-0.89)] and docosahexaenoic acid [OR (95% CI), 0.42 (0.17-1.02)] were inversely associated with, whereas linoleic acid [OR (95% CI), 3.85 (1.41-10.55)] was positively associated with intraprostatic inflammation. Serum trans fatty acids were not associated with intraprostatic inflammation. No significant associations were observed in cases; however, we could not rule out a positive association with linoleic acid and an inverse association with arachidonic acid. Thus, in the PCPT, we found that serum n-3 fatty acids were inversely, n-6 fatty acids were positively, and trans fatty acids were not associated with intraprostatic inflammation in controls. Although, in theory, inflammation could mediate associations of serum fatty acids with prostate cancer risk, our findings cannot explain the epidemiologic associations observed with n-3 and n-6 fatty acids.
Cancer Prevention Fellowship Program, Division of Cancer Prevention, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland.
Sarah H
SH
Nash
Cancer Prevention Program, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, Washington.
Jeannette M
JM
Schenk
Cancer Prevention Program, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, Washington.
Alan R
AR
Kristal
Southwest Oncology Group Statistical Center, Seattle, Washington.
Phillis J
PJ
Goodman
Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Denver, Colorado.
M Scott
MS
Lucia
Prostate and Urologic Cancer Research Group, Division of Cancer Prevention, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland.
Howard L
HL
Parnes
Department of Urology, School of Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, Texas.
Ian M
IM
Thompson
Office of the Director, Moores Cancer Center, University of California at San Diego, San Diego, California.
Scott M
SM
Lippman
Cancer Prevention Program, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, Washington.
Xiaoling
X
Song
Department of Pathology, Kocaeli University School of Medicine, Kocaeli, Turkey.
Bora
B
Gurel
Department of Pathology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland. Department of Urology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland. James Buchanan Brady Urological Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland. Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, Baltimore, Maryland.
Angelo
A
De Marzo
Department of Urology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland. James Buchanan Brady Urological Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland. Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, Baltimore, Maryland. Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland. eplatz1@jhu.edu.
Elizabeth A
EA
Platz
D000368:Aged; D002855:Chromatography, Thin Layer; D015525:Fatty Acids, Omega-3 / Q000097:blood*; D043371:Fatty Acids, Omega-6 / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010743:Phospholipids; D015995:Prevalence; D011467:Prostate / Q000473:pathology; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000517:prevention & control
D015525:Fatty Acids, Omega-3; D043371:Fatty Acids, Omega-6; D010743:Phospholipids