Table 2.

Distributions of Serum Fatty Acid Composition as Total Phospholipids (%)^a Shown as the 25th, 50th (Median), and 75th Percentiles in the Carotene and Retinol Efficacy Trial, 1985–2003

Fatty Acids	Nonaggressive Prostate Cancer Cases, %b			Aggressive Prostate Cancer Cases, %c			Controls, %d
	25th Percentile	Median	75th Percentile	25th Percentile	Median	75th Percentile	25th Percentile	Median	75th Percentile
n-3 PUFAs
18:3n-3 (α-linolenic)	0.09	0.10	0.11	0.09	0.10	0.11	0.09	0.10	0.12
20:3n-3 (eicosatrienoic)	0.01	0.02	0.02	0.01	0.02	0.02	0.01	0.02	0.02
20:5n-3 (eicosapentaenoic)	0.45	0.58	0.75	0.44	0.59	0.76	0.42	0.56	0.75
22:5n-3 (docosapentaenoic)	0.71	0.80	0.90	0.71	0.81	0.91	0.71	0.81	0.91
22:6n-3 (docosahexaenoic)	2.11	2.59	3.14	2.12	2.52	3.14	2.09	2.56	3.16
Total n-3	3.52	4.08	4.72	3.53	4.08	4.81	3.53	4.05	4.76
n-6 PUFAs
18:2n-6 (linoleic)	18.76	20.55	22.29	18.95	20.75	22.44	18.83	20.57	22.32
18:3n-6 (γ-linolenic)	0.05	0.07	0.09	0.05	0.07	0.09	0.05	0.07	0.09
20:2n-6 (eicosadienoic)	0.30	0.33	0.37	0.31	0.34	0.38	0.31	0.34	0.38
20:3n-6 (dihomo-γ-linolenic)	2.51	2.84	3.22	2.52	2.95	3.45	2.54	2.94	3.40
20:4n-6 (arachidonic)	9.44	10.77	12.17	9.31	10.47	11.52	9.52	10.64	11.82
22:2n-6 (docosadienoic)	0.02	0.03	0.04	0.03	0.03	0.04	0.02	0.03	0.04
22:4n-6 (docosatetraenoic)	0.39	0.45	0.51	0.39	0.44	0.50	0.39	0.46	0.52
Total n-6	34.11	35.10	36.58	33.82	35.33	36.39	34.07	35.26	36.41
TFA 16:1	0.17	0.20	0.24	0.16	0.20	0.24	0.17	0.20	0.24
TFA 18:1	1.20	1.63	2.07	1.18	1.59	2.12	1.20	1.59	2.11
TFA 18:2	0.18	0.23	0.28	0.18	0.23	0.28	0.18	0.22	0.28

Abbreviations: PUFA, polyunsaturated fatty acid; TFA, trans-fatty acid.

^a The summation of fatty acid shown in this table is not 100% because other groups (saturated and monounsaturated) of fatty acids are not listed.

^b There were 368 cases with nonaggressive prostate cancer defined as stage 0–II tumors and Gleason score <7.

^c There were 273 cases with aggressive prostate cancer defined as stage III/IV tumors or Gleason score ≥7.

^d There were 1,398 controls.