ABSTRACT
The stimuli to investigate the relationship between dietary fat and breast cancer came from two directions. Animals fed high-fat diets showed increased development of mammary gland tumors. In humans there was found to be a close correlation between mortality from breast cancer and total fat consumption on a country by country basis. Essential fatty acids (EFAs) are polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) which are capable of correcting the deficiency disease which develops when animals are supplied a diet which except for its PUFA content contains all known essential dietary factors. EFAs seem required for normal prolactin receptor development and high corn oil diets have been shown to increase prolactin binding in both liver and tumor in rats with nitrosomethylurea-tumors. Thymectomy lowered proestrous prolactin but the high corn oil diet elevated prolactin in both thymectomized and sham-thymectomized animals. Wagner et al. performed highly original study of the interaction between the immune system and the effects of corn oil supplementation on DMBA-induced tumors.
