Omega-3 Supplementation May Reduce Joint and Cognitive Side Effects of Breast Cancer Treatments

“I know I need this medicine to help lower my chance of cancer recurrence, but it makes my joints ache and stiff. It makes me feel old and I am not sure I can take this medication much longer.”

It’s a story that oncologists across the country hear frequently from patients taking aromatase inhibitors, a medication that reduces circulating estrogen levels, which leads to lower breast cancer recurrences. Dr. Maryam Lustberg, an assistant professor at the Ohio State College of Medicine, knew the pain made some of her patients less compliant, possibly giving the cancer a foothold.

“Up to a third of my patients were reporting joint symptoms on aromatase inhibitor therapy which was impacting their quality of life and some had to stop taking the medication,” says Lustberg.

Lustberg attended a seminar hosted by Ohio State’s Center for Clinical and Translational Science (CCTS) designed to bring new TL-1 award recipients together to share research interests. There, she met Tonya Orchard, a doctoral student in nutrition working on a CCTS-funded study with post-menopausal women and the consumption of fatty acids – a nutrient essential to human health that had also been linked to reducing joint pain related to osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.

"Dr. Lustberg approached me with what she was seeing in her clinic and we quickly became excited about the prospect of working together to address the problem," recalls Orchard, now a visiting assistant professor in the Department of Nutrition at Ohio State. "We put together a grant proposal and the Cancer and Leukemia Group B awarded us pilot funding to see if omega-3's could help women taking these estrogen-blocking drugs."

This study – due to be completed in Spring 2012 – adds another chapter in Orchard's career that has included working with patients suffering from osteoporosis in a clinical setting and researching the health impacts of omega-3 fatty in post-menopausal women.

"Early on, I was fascinated with research showing a correlation between omega-3's and bone mineral density, but it was really after seeing my grandmother suffer from several lumbar fractures, a hip fracture and ultimately ending up in a nursing home that my interest in fatty acids was solidified," says Orchard.

Both animal and plant products may be included in an Omega-3 supplement, known to the scientific community as an essential fatty acid (EFA). Fatty acids are essential to overall health. Since the body does not produce EFA sufficiently, a quality supplement is required to help maintain good health. Flax oil is a source for Omega-3 although fish-oil Omega-3 is the best because the fatty acid is more useful and more easily converted to a form the body can absorb and utilize. Inflamation in the human body is a major cause of heart and brain disorders as well as extreme joint pain. Omega-3 in a quality supplement fights inflation and may assist in minimizing many of these maladies.