Effect of diets containing different levels of linoleic acid on human breast cancer growth and lung metastasis in nude mice.

The purpose of the study was to determine the effect of three different levels of dietary linoleic acid (LA) intake on the growth of MDA-MB-435 human breast cancer cells in the mammary fat pads of nude mice, and their metastasis to the lungs. These diets were isocaloric, and contained different mixtures of safflower (LA-rich) and coconut (saturated fatty acid-rich) oils to provide 23% (w/w) total fat, with 2, 8, and 12% (w/w) LA. A fourth group was fed a low-fat, 5% (w/w) corn oil diet. There were 25 mice in each dietary group. A necropsy, 12 weeks after the tumor cell injections, the primary tumor weights in the 12% LA (4.1 +/- 2.7 g)- and 8% LA (3.5 +/- 1.7 g)-fed groups were significantly greater (P < 0.05) than those fed the 2% LA diet (2.5 +/- 1.5 g); they did not differ significantly from the weights of mammary fat pad tumors in the 5% corn oil-fed mice. The incidence of grossly visible pulmonary metastatic nodules was not significantly different between the 8 and 12% LA-fed mice, but was higher for both groups compared with the 2% LA-fed group (P < 0.05), with a similar trend in comparison with the 5% corn oil group. The mean total calculated volumes of the macroscopic metastases per tumor-bearing mouse were significantly greater in the 8 and 12% LA (157 +/- 250.7 and 99.1 +/- 140.0 mm3, respectively), compared with the 2% LA (23.3 +/- 51.8 mm3)- and 5% corn oil (24.5 +/- 35.1 mm3)-fed mice; all P < 0.05. Micrometastases were observed most frequently in the 5% corn oil and 2% LA dietary groups, but none of the differences were statistically significant. No differences were detected in the concentrations of prostaglandin E, leukotriene B4, or 5-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid in tumors from mice fed the four different diets.