Girls in an early phase of puberty may reduce the risk of acquiring breast cancer later in life by avoiding high-fat diets. The study was performed by the MichiganStateUniversity and the finding was recently published in the online journal of Breast Cancer Research. It is suggested that consuming high-saturated animal fats could increase the risk breast cancer; but may also speed up the breast cancer development.
Experimenting on a group of mice, the team discovered than only a few weeks after embarking on unhealthy, high-fat diet; mice began to show noticeable changes in their breast including alterations in the immune cells and increased cell growth. It’s noted that the changes could be permanent and this could cause precancerous lesions to develop more rapidly. This could ultimately lead to breast cancer.
The new study found that teenagers during puberty who eat a diet rich in saturated animal fats could increase their chance of acquiring breast cancer. One worrying factor among researchers is that high-fat diet may produce a distinct gene signature; which is consistent in women with one specific group of breast cancer known as triple negative or basal-like. According to statistics, up to 20 percent of breast cancer cases in the United States included in the basal-like type and this more likely affects teenagers. Unfortunately, this group of breast cancer is particularly aggressive; it grows and spreads faster. So, it isn’t surprising that prognosis for women with basal-like breast cancer are usually worse.
It’s a very significant discovery, although breast cancer typically arises from random mutation, the newly detected gene signature could show the potent and overarching influence of high-type of diet in the development of breast cancer. It’s also interesting to note that that growth of breast tissue would occur even if the mice didn’t gain weight. However, experts clarified that the experimental model in the study didn’t consider weight gain; although this would make the finding more relevant to the general population. But, it’s still quite clear that the culprit of breast cancer is saturated fat instead of weight gain. It’s also cautioned that high-fat diet among girls in early puberty could cause permanent changes; even if they follow low fat, healthy diet later in life.
Overall, it is indicated that avoiding excessive consumption of dietary fat could help making the risk of breast cancer lower. So, it’s suggested that avoiding high-fat diet doesn’t only make sense, but also could improve the quality of life during adulthood.
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