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    A new research result published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (Jama) claims that omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin D present in fatty fish can help reduce a woman's chances of developing renal cell carcinoma (RCC), which accounts for more than 80 percent of all kidney cancers.

    Alicja Wolk and his colleagues at Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, studied 61,433 women aged 40-76 without previous diagnosis of cancer at the baseline (March 1987 - December 1990).

    They found that women who consumed one or more servings of fatty fish per week had a significant 44 percent decreased risk of RCC compared with women who did not consume any fish.

    Women who reported consistent long-term consumption of fatty fish at baseline and 10 years later had a significant 74 percent lower risk, the researchers noted.

    Previous studies have analysed total fish consumption and have not taken into account the fact that there are large differences between fatty fish and lean fish in the content of omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin D.

    They agreed that fatty fish can contain up to 20 to 30 times more omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, which have been associated with slowing the development of cancer, than lean fish.

    Fatty fish also have three to five times more vitamin D in them than leaner fish, with lower vitamin D levels linked to the development and progression of RCC.

    "Our results support the hypothesis that frequent consumption of fatty fish may lower the risk of RCC possibly due to the increased intake of fish oil rich in eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaneoic acid as well as vitamin D," said Wolk. Enditem

The following are classed as fatty fish:	The following are classed as lean fish:
Salmon	Hake
Herring	Plaice
Mackerel	Lemon sole
Lake trout	Brill
Sardines	Turbot
Albacore tuna	Dogfish
Seafood (shrimps/prawns, lobster, crayfish)	Shark

    (Agencies)