Plasma omega-3 and omega-6 concentrations and risk of cutaneous basal and squamous cell carcinomas in Australian adults
Menée en Australie sur 1 191 adultes de type caucasien, cette étude prospective évalue l'association entre les niveaux plasmatiques des acides gras oméga-3 et oméga-6 et le risque de carcinome basocellulaire et de carcinome épidermoïde de la peau
Laboratory-based evidence suggests that omega-3 and omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids may affect skin photocarcinogenesis but epidemiological evidence is inconsistent. In 1,191 white Australian adults, we prospectively investigated associations between baseline plasma concentrations of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids and cutaneous basal cell carcinomas (BCC) and squamous cell carcinomas (SCC). Relative risks (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated based on number of histologically-confirmed tumours diagnosed during follow-up (1997 to 2007). Plasma eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) concentrations and omega-3/-6 ratio showed significant inverse associations with SCC tumours, comparing higher tertiles to the lowest, in age and sex-adjusted models (p trend=0.02 and 0.03 respectively) which weakened after adjustment for past sun exposure. Associations between EPA and SCC were stronger among participants with a history of skin cancer at baseline (n=378) (highest vs. lowest tertile: RR=0.50, 95% CI=0.28-0.92; p trend=0.01). Total omega-6 was inversely associated with BCC tumours in multivariate models (p=0.04) (highest vs. lowest tertile: RR=0.71, 95% CI=0.51-0.99), and more strongly in the subgroup with past skin cancer. Linoleic and linolenic acids were also inversely associated with BCC occurrence in this subgroup. When fatty acids were analysed as continuous variables however, there was no evidence of any linear or non-linear associations. This study provides some support for reduced skin cancer risk with high plasma concentrations of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, but results depended on how fatty acid data were modelled. Further investigation of these associations in larger datasets is needed.