Fat fuels the spread of cancer.

[Angela]

See:
http://www.nature.com/news/fat-fuels...TWT_NatureNews

The caveat is that the study was done on mice, but that's how most of these initial studies are done.

I wonder if this ties in to the fact that studies show a correlation between being thin and longevity?

[Maciamo]

Not all fats are equal. The bad, cancer causing fats are saturated fats and trans fats. Some fats, like omega-3 fatty acids, CLA (conjugated linoleic acid) and ALA (α-lipoic acid), tend to lower inflammation and have antioxidant properties that could have protective effects against cancer, although evidence is still scarce. Overheating oils, even good oils, will transform them into carcinogenic trans fats.

[Angela]

Most of the study was based on examining metastasis, or how cancer cells are able to spread throughout the body. These scientists are claiming that cells use fat to fuel the "journey".

"It is a difficult and hazardous undertaking for a cancer cell to uproot itself, travel through the bloodstream and take hold in an entirely different part of the body. (Non-cancerous cells are often programmed to self-destruct if they leave the tissue they live in.) Researchers have long struggled to understand which cancer cells can manage the feat, and how they do so."

The tumor cells the scientists examined (ranging from breast to brain to lung etc.) had very high levels of a molecule called CD36, which aids in the absorption of fatty acids, apparently.

"Benitah and his team found that high CD36 expression was required for metastasis in mice. Antibodies that blocked CD36 — and eliminated its interaction with fatty acids — completely inhibited metastasis, although they did not affect the development of primary tumours."

The only mention of the effect of a high fat diet on cancer in general was this:
"feeding the mice a high-fat diet led to more and larger tumours in the lymph nodes and lungs — a sign of metastasis — compared with mice on normal diets. Benitah’s team is now carrying out a study that aims to enrol 1,000 people with cancer, profiling lipids in their blood to look for any links to the spread of cancer cells."

This is the link to the actual paper:
http://www.nature.com/articles/natur...www.nature.com

I couldn't find a description of the high fat diet they were giving to the test animals.

[LeBrok]

Most of the study was based on examining metastasis, or how cancer cells are able to spread throughout the body. These scientists are claiming that cells use fat to fuel the "journey".

"It is a difficult and hazardous undertaking for a cancer cell to uproot itself, travel through the bloodstream and take hold in an entirely different part of the body. (Non-cancerous cells are often programmed to self-destruct if they leave the tissue they live in.) Researchers have long struggled to understand which cancer cells can manage the feat, and how they do so."

The tumor cells the scientists examined (ranging from breast to brain to lung etc.) had very high levels of a molecule called CD36, which aids in the absorption of fatty acids, apparently.

"Benitah and his team found that high CD36 expression was required for metastasis in mice. Antibodies that blocked CD36 — and eliminated its interaction with fatty acids — completely inhibited metastasis, although they did not affect the development of primary tumours."

The only mention of the effect of a high fat diet on cancer in general was this:
"feeding the mice a high-fat diet led to more and larger tumours in the lymph nodes and lungs — a sign of metastasis — compared with mice on normal diets. Benitah’s team is now carrying out a study that aims to enrol 1,000 people with cancer, profiling lipids in their blood to look for any links to the spread of cancer cells."

This is the link to the actual paper:
http://www.nature.com/articles/natur...www.nature.com

I couldn't find a description of the high fat diet they were giving to the test animals.

In same way many vitamins can be implicated in cancer, as they help cell grow. And cancer is a lump of fast growing cells.

[PaleoRevenge]

Not all fats are equal. The bad, cancer causing fats are saturated fats and trans fats. Some fats, like omega-3 fatty acids, CLA (conjugated linoleic acid) and ALA (α-lipoic acid), tend to lower inflammation and have antioxidant properties that could have protective effects against cancer, although evidence is still scarce. Overheating oils, even good oils, will transform them into carcinogenic trans fats.

Angela's article is talking about fat in the body. So the relationship is flawed, wrong conclusion. If I eat the fat of a wild herbivore, this consumption will not create fat deposits in my body. Most of fat in people is caused by the consumption grains, grain by-products and processed foods. Bad foods = unhealthy bodies = good environment for cancer.

The real question is why were the fat mice, fat to being with? Not the unsurprisingly results that unhealthy mice were more susceptible to diseases and cancer.

This study is another typical modern junk science with a predetermine goal that fats = bad.