The Effects of Omega-3 Fatty Acids and Vitamin D Supplementation on the Nutritional Status of Women with Breast Cancer in Palestine: An Open-Label Randomized Controlled Trial

BACKGROUND: This study emphasizes the critical role of early nutritional interventions in addressing cancer-related malnutrition. It aimed to assess the effects of omega-3 fatty acids (ω3) and vitamin D3 (VitD) supplementation on the nutritional status of newly diagnosed women with breast cancer (BC) in the Gaza Strip, Palestine.

METHOD: A total of 88 newly diagnosed women with BC were randomly assigned into four groups: (i) Omega-3 fatty acid (ω3) group; (ii) Vitamin D (VitD) group; (iii) ω3+VitD group; and (iv) the controls. The patients took two daily 300 mg ω3 capsules and/or one weekly 50,000 IU VitD tablet for nine weeks. Nutritional status of the participants was assessed by several measurement tools, namely, the Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment (PG-SGA)-derived scores, anthropometric measurements, blood albumin status and dietary intakes between the baseline and after 9 weeks post-intervention. The procedures of the present study were registered on ClinicalTrial.gov with the identifier NCT05331807.

RESULTS: At the end of trial, there was a significant increase in the PG-SGA-derived nutritional risk scores (p < 0.01), body weight and body mass index (BMI) (both p < 0.05) among participants in ω3+VitD group compared to other groups. Additionally, there was a significant rise in blood albumin levels (p < 0.05), daily energy and protein intake in the ω3+VitD group (p < 0.05) compared to baseline.

CONCLUSION: Participants with supplementation of daily ω3 and weekly VitD had improved nutritional status, assessed by the PG-SGA scores and anthropometric measures, blood albumin and dietary energy and protein intake among women with BC who were undergoing active treatment.