Can eating more fish reduce the risk of liver cancer? Dietary principles for liver cancer prevention

A research team from the National Cancer Center conducted a continuous follow-up survey for 11 years on approximately 90,000 people aged 45 to 74 across Japan. They divided the people into five groups based on how much they regularly consumed fish rich in unsaturated fatty acids, such as saury, and compared them with patients with liver cancer.

The results of the study found that the risk of liver cancer in the group that consumed the most fish was one-third of that in the group that consumed the least fish. In addition, an analysis of hepatitis B and C carriers, which are believed to be the cause of liver cancer, also found that the group that ate the most fish had a lower risk of cancer.

In addition to saury, horse mackerel, salmon, sea bream, etc. are also rich in unsaturated fatty acids such as DHA and EpA. The group with the highest intake ate about one medium-sized fish such as saury every day, while the group with the least intake ate about one medium-sized fish per week.

The report quoted Norie Sawada, a researcher at the Cancer Research Center, as saying, "It is likely that the unsaturated fatty acids in fish inhibit inflammation and reduce the risk of chronic hepatitis turning into liver cancer."