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Carcinogenesis alters fatty acid profile in breast tissue

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Abstract

Cancerogenesis is associated with cell membrane changes. The aim of this study was to investigate whether breast tissues with different degrees of cancer involvement have different fatty acid profiles. Fourteen breast cancer patients with a mean age of 61 years were recruited. Morphological features of the tumoral specimens were characterized. Approximately 60 % of patients had invasive ductal carcinoma, and 80 % were ER positive; 65 % were PR positive; and 65 % were HER2 negative. The segments with confirmed cancer had significantly less amounts of total lipids as compared with the corresponding grossly normal or interface tissues. The fatty acid profile in cancer tissue was significantly different from that in other tissues. Fatty acid composition of five classes of phospholipids revealed the variations between cancer tissue and the other two segments. A transition of changes in fatty acid composition in these fractions of phospholipids was observed. The interface tissue had intermediate amounts of several fatty acids including palmitic acid, stearic acid, and arachidonic acid. Interestingly, we observed significantly higher amounts of the n-3 fatty acid DHA in cancer tissue as compared to the other two tissues. Data from this study will provide evidence that biochemical changes particularly phospholipid composition may take place well in advance prior to morphological changes. Should this theory be confirmed by larger studies, deviation of phospholipid composition from normal values can be used as markers of susceptibility of tissue to cancer development.

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Abbreviations

DHA:

Docosahexaenoic acid

FFQ:

Food frequency questionnaire

PC:

Phosphatidylcholine

PE:

Phosphatidylethanolamine

PI:

Phosphatidylinositol

PS:

Phosphatidylserine

PUFA:

Polyunsaturated fatty acids

TLC:

Thin-layer chromatography

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by a grant from Manitoba Medical Services Foundation to GF and MHM. NA was a recipient of a graduate student award from Manitoba Health Research Council.

Conflict of interest

None of the authors claim conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Human Nutritional Sciences, Canadian Centre for Agri-Food Research in Health and Medicine, University of Manitoba, 351 Tache Avenue, Winnipeg, MB, R2H 2A6, Canada

    Nazila Azordegan, Khuong Le & Mohammed H. Moghadasian

  2. Departments of Surgery, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada

    Virginia Fraser

  3. Department of Human Health and Nutritional Sciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, Canada

    Lyn M. Hillyer & David W. L. Ma

  4. Departments of Pathology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada

    Gabor Fischer

Authors
  1. Nazila Azordegan
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  2. Virginia Fraser
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  3. Khuong Le
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  4. Lyn M. Hillyer
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  5. David W. L. Ma
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  6. Gabor Fischer
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  7. Mohammed H. Moghadasian
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Correspondence to Mohammed H. Moghadasian.

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Azordegan, N., Fraser, V., Le, K. et al. Carcinogenesis alters fatty acid profile in breast tissue. Mol Cell Biochem 374, 223–232 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11010-012-1523-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11010-012-1523-4

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