Breast Cancer and Early Onset Childhood Obesity: Cell Specific Gene Expression in Mammary Epithelia and Adipocytes
Abstract
Obesity has become a major health problem in children and adults and is associated with increased breast cancer incidence and mortality. The epidemic of childhood obesity is recent and little information exists regarding its association with mammary tumorigenesis. Towards better understanding this relationship we have developed and characterized a new rat model of childhood onset Diet Induced Obesity (DIO) and breast cancer. We have shown that young female rats fed a high fat Western Style diet have a 2-fold higher body fat mass and elevated serum comorbidity factors as compared to Chow fed Lean rats. When these animals are treated with the carcinogen MNU mammary tumors appear sooner and in greater numbers in Obese rats. We determined via histology that tumors from Obese rats are of a more invasive type compared to tumors from Lean rats. This is in accord with the association between human obesity and breast cancer mortality. This new model parallels the onset of obesity as it occurs in humans and therefore provides an excellent system to study the underlying mechanisms of obesity and mammary tumor formation and progression. Our long-term goals are to exploit this model to better understand adipocyte-epithelial interactions during mammary tumorigenesis identify and validate novel molecular therapeutic targets and to establish biomarkers for cancer prevention and prognosis.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jul 01, 2006
- Accession Number
- ADA484172
Entities
People
- Ignacio Camarillo
- Maxine Nichols
Organizations
- Purdue University