"However, consumption of the omega-6 PUFAs found in refined vegetable oils used to make everything from margarine to baked goods and snack foods, has no impact on colorectal cancer risk."

"The research, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology this month, suggests that different fatty acids have different effects on colorectal cancer risk. "

"These dissimilar effects of various types of fatty acids stress the importance of knowing the type of fat involved when studying the development or prevention of colorectal cancer, comment Dr. Evropi Theodoratou from University of Edinburgh, UK and colleagues."

"In a study involving 1,455 people with colorectal cancer and 1,455 without the disease (the controls), researchers found that the cancer patients consumed lower amounts of omega-3 PUFAs and its main components, docosahexaenoic and eicosapentaenoic acids, than did the cancer-free controls."

"People with the highest level of omega-3 PUFAs in their diets had 37-percent lower odds of colorectal cancer compared with people with the lowest level. "The omega-3 fatty acids that had the strongest associations were the ones present in oily fish -- eicosapentaenoic acids and docosahexaenoic," Theodoratou and co-author Dr. Harry Campbell noted in written comments to Reuters Health."

"The odds of colorectal cancer was 41 percent lower in people with the highest docosahexaenoic intake and 37 percent lower in those with the highest eicosapentaenoic acids intake, compared with people with the lowest intake of these individual PUFAs."

""These associations remained constant after several corrections and adjustments of the statistical models," Theodoratou and Campbell noted. They caution, however, that more study is needed "before we can conclude that omega-3 fatty acids may protect against colorectal cancer.""

""During the study, some of the people were
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