Texas

Fish and fruit may not sound like a tasty menu combination, but for some Texas A&M University researchers it's the best thing since sliced bread.

Dr. Robert Chapkin, a professor of nutrition and a University and Texas Agricultural Experiment Station faculty fellow, is collaborating with other researchers to determine how certain foods seem to protect against some diseases.

"My research is in two fields," Chapkin said. "One is chemo-prevention, which is the role of diet and nutrition in protecting people from developing cancer--in this case, colon cancer. I spend three-quarters of my research time doing that.

"The other quarter, I'm involved in (studying) how nutrition affects the immune system," he said. "Cancer and the immune system are linked."

In doing this research, Chapkin found more than half of colon cancers are linked to environmental, not genetic, causes.

"What we're eating is a very important risk factor," he said. "Human biology is incredibly complex."

His research group is focusing on two specific areas--dietary fat and dietary fiber--and how those foods affect the risk of cancer developing in the colon.

What they have found is certain fats, when mixed with certain fibers, can offer significant protection from colon cancer, Chapkin said.

The researchers are studying omega 3 fatty acids found in fish oil, he said. The health benefits of these substances appears to be amazing.

"Americans eat woefully little of these lipids," Chapkin said. In addition to their possible role in preventing colon cancer, omega 3 fatty acids appear to be anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor and heart-healthy.

"Fish oil has a profound affect on our biology," he said. Even now other researchers are studying a possible link between this nutritional substance and prostate and breast cancer prevention.

Unfortunately, the large fish--including tuna and salmon--that are the richest source of this oil are also contaminated with such substances as mercury, which is particularly harmful to young children and pregnant women.

"Smaller, top-dwelling fish, like sardines, have lower levels of contaminants," he said.

Supplements could be an alternate source of omega 3 fatty acids for people who shy away from fish, Chapkin said.

"But supplements are not regulated at all, so you have no idea what's in the bottle," he said.

Chapkin and his collaborators are also studying pectin, a kind of fiber found in some fruits, and how it interacts with the fish oil to protect against colon cancer. Dr. Joanne R. Lupton is leading this research, he said. Lupton is a regents professor of nutritional sciences, food science and technology and veterinary integrated biosciences at Texas A&M, as well as a university faculty fellow and William W. Allen endowed chair in nutrition.

Another collaborator in this research into colon cancer prevention is Dr. Lucas Wong, with Scott and White hospital and clinic in Temple.

"We are looking at developing a non-invasive method of determining how diet impacts colon cancer risks," Chapkin said.

As director for the Genomics Core Facility with the Center for Environment and Rural Health at Texas A&M, Chapkin is working with Wong to determine the "molecular fingerprint" of cells found in fecal material. This research may lead to an understanding of what triggers colon cancers.

The researchers hope in the future, "people could send in fecal specimens that could be processed by a lab in order to detect on a molecular level what is their degree of risk for developing colon cancer," he said. That would be another level of preventative health care.

Early detection is vitally important when it comes to colon cancer, he said.

"Colon cancer takes place over many years," Chapkin said, "and it's a disease of age. What kills people is they don't go in and get a colonoscopy. Colon cancer is treatable in the early stages."

Chapkin, who describes himself as a "cell biologist," has been working in the area of nutrition since he was an undergraduate. He earned two degrees from the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada: a bachelor's degree in nutrition and biochemistry in 1981 and a master's degree in nutrition in 1983. He earned a doctorate in nutrition and physiological chemistry from the University of California at Davis in 1986, and followed that with two years of post-doctorate work at UC-Davis's school of medicine. He's been at Texas A&M since 1988.

Date: 5/26/05

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