PHILADELPHIA, Jun 15, 2009 (UPI via COMTEX) -- Low-fat diet helps genetically
predisposed animals avoid liver cancer, U.S. researchers found.
In a study comparing two strains of mice -- one susceptible to developing cancer
and the other not -- researchers found that a high-fat diet predisposed the
cancer-susceptible strain to liver cancer.
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and Case
Western Reserve University found that by switching to a low-fat diet early in
the experiment, the same high-risk mice avoided the cancer malignancy.
The switched mice were lean rather than obese and had healthy livers at the end
of the study.
The investigators studied hepatocellular carcinoma, a type of liver cancer that
is one of the leading causes of cancer death worldwide. Thirty percent of cases
of this type of liver cancer are associated with obesity, type 2 diabetes and
related metabolic diseases, although a direct link between these and liver cell
cancer has not been completely established, the researchers said.
Senior co-author John Lambris of the University of Pennsylvania School of
Medicine said the researchers hope the results will lead to the development of
blood tests that can detect precancerous conditions related to diet.
The findings appear online this month in Human Molecular Genetics.
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Copyright 2009 by United Press International