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Dietary Fat and Growth Promotion of Rat Mammary Tumors¹

Division of Molecular Biology and Pharmacology, Naylor Dana Institute for Disease Prevention, American Health Foundation, Valhalla, New York 10595

A hypothesis is presented that explains the mammary tumor-promoting effects of high fat diets on the basis of alteration in the hormonal milieu, namely the relative concentrations of circulating prolactin to estrogen. Evidence from in vivo and in vitro studies drawn from work in our laboratory and others is reviewed in light of this hypothesis. It is postulated that mammary tumor cells proliferation is stimulated when the prolactin:estrogen ratio is high and is inhibited when the ratio is low. Chronic high fat intake elevates serum prolactin levels, thus raises the prolactin:estrogen ratio, and thereby promotes mammary tumor cell growth.

¹ Presented at the Conference on Nutrition in the Causation of Cancer, May 19 to 22, 1975, Key Biscayne, Fla. Supported in part by USPHS Research Grant CA 012376 from the National Cancer Institute.

² Presenter.