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Dietary Fat and Experimental Carcinogenesis: A Summary of Recent in Vivo Studies

  • Chapter
Essential Nutrients in Carcinogenesis

Abstract

Diets high in fat have been demonstrated to enhance carcinogenesis in numerous models. Studies on the relationship between dietary fat and cancer in experimental animals have improved with the evolution in our knowledge of the carcinogenic process and with our ability to formulate better controlled diets. This paper summarizes studies conducted during the past 15–20 years on the effects of dietary fat on in vivo carcinogenesis. Relationships between skin carcinogenesis and dietary fat have received little attention during this time, but tremendous progress has been made in our understanding of mammary and colon carcinogenesis. Studies have been conducted of mammary carcinogenesis induced in various rat strains by several chemical carcinogens or by X-irradiation. Several colon carcinogenesis models have also been used to evaluate dietary fat effects. Recent studies in the lung, liver, and pancreas have shown relationships between the carcinogenic process at these sites and dietary fat; however, further studies are needed. The confounding between high fat intakes and low carbohydrate intakes and the difficulties of separating high fat intake from high caloric intake must be addressed in future research. The mechanism of the observed effects of dietary fat is unknown.

Preparation of this review was supported in part by Public Health Service Grant RO1 CA 31655-01 and a Laboratory Research Core Grant from the National Cancer Institute (1-P30 CA 36727).

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Abbreviations

EFA:

essential fatty acids

AAF:

N-2∽fluorenylacetamide

DMBA:

7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene

NMU:

N-nitroso-N-methylurea

BP:

benzo(a)pyrene

BOP:

N-nitrosobis(2-oxoproρyl)amine

AOM:

azoxymethanol

DMH:

1,2-dimethylhydrazine

DMAB:

3,2′-dimethyl-4-aminobiphenyl

MAM:

methylazoxymethanol

AFB1 :

aflatoxin B1

AZA:

azaserine

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Eppley Institute for Research in Cancer and Allied Diseases, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, Nebraska, 68105, USA

    Diane F. Birt

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  1. Diane F. Birt
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Comparative Carcinogenesis, National Cancer Institute, Frederick Cancer Research Facility, Frederick, Maryland, USA

    Lionel A. Poirier

  2. Department of Pathology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

    Paul M. Newberne

  3. Food Research Institute, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, USA

    Michael W. Pariza

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© 1986 Plenum Press, New York

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Birt, D.F. (1986). Dietary Fat and Experimental Carcinogenesis: A Summary of Recent in Vivo Studies. In: Poirier, L.A., Newberne, P.M., Pariza, M.W. (eds) Essential Nutrients in Carcinogenesis. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-1835-4_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-1835-4_8

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-9025-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4613-1835-4

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