Trial reportBreast cancer research : BCR2025
Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) supplementation attenuates changes in the concentration, phenotype, and response of immune peripheral blood cells in breast cancer patients undergoing neoadjuvant therapy. Secondary findings from the DHA-WIN trial.
Trial report in Breast cancer research : BCR, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- The Role of Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids in Modulating Inflammation and Breast Cancer: A Systematic Review of In Vitro, Animal, and Human Studies.Current oncology reports · 2026Pooled it
- Pooled it
- An in vivo platform to jointly monitor cellular and metabolic responses to chemotherapy.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Comparative Effect of African Walnut Oil and Docosahexaenoic Acid on Hematological and Oxidative Stress Markers of Female Wistar Rats With 7,12-Dimethylbenz[a]anthracene-Induced Breast Cancer.Food science & nutrition · 2026Article
- Development of functional foods with stable encapsulated docosahexaenoic acid.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Review
- Cracking the code of cancer immunotherapy resistance: emerging roles of pyroptosis and necroptosis.Journal of experimental & clinical cancer research : CR · 2025Review
- Post-translational modifications of cancer immune checkpoints: mechanisms and therapeutic strategies.Molecular cancer · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundBreast cancer neoadjuvant therapy may negatively impact the immune system. As a secondary outcome of the docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) for women with breast cancer in the neoadjuvant setting (DHA-WIN trial), we sought to assess the effects of an intervention with DHA on parameters of immune function of women undergoing neoadjuvant therapy.
methodsWomen with early-stage breast cancer in the neoadjuvant setting were recruited for the DHA-WIN trial and randomly assigned to receive either 4.4 g/day of DHA or a placebo for 18 weeks in conjunction with their neoadjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer. Venous blood was collected to isolate peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Immune parameters were assessed by measuring white blood cell concentration, flow cytometry, and cytokines concentration after mitogen-stimulated immune response.
resultsIn the placebo group the proportion of T cells (CD3 +), and functionally active monocytes (CD14 + HLA-DR +) was reduced at the last cycle of chemotherapy (15 weeks) but remained constant in the DHA group (P interaction < 0.05). The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) was maintained in the DHA group but increased in the placebo at the end of chemotherapy (P-interaction = 0.02). An increase in this ratio was associated with lower chance of achieving pathological complete response (OR = 0.32, 95% CI [0.14,0.16], P = 0.01). After 15 weeks of therapy, the DHA-supplemented group had higher concentrations of stimulated cytokines IL-4, IL-10, and the T helper type 1 cytokine IFN-γ after phytohemagglutinin (PHA) challenge, and higher concentrations of TNF-α and IFN-γ cytokines after lipopolysaccharide exposure (P < 0.05).
conclusionSupplementing DHA during breast cancer neoadjuvant chemotherapy improved systemic immune function by attenuating changes in blood cell concentrations, preventing depletion of immune cells, and enhancing ex vivo cytokine secretion after stimulation.
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