High-Fat Diet During Puberty Speeds Up Breast Cancer Development

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/11/131126123935.htm

Nov. 26, 2013 — New findings show that eating a high-fat diet beginning at puberty speeds up the development of breast cancer and may actually increase the risk of cancer similar to a type often found in younger adult women.

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In addition to the accelerated breast cancer development, this type of diet produces a distinct gene signature in the tumors consistent with a subset of breast cancers known as basal-like that can carry a worse prognosis.

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"It's important to note that since our experimental model did not involve any weight gain from the high-fat diet, these findings are relevant to a much broader segment of the population than just those who are overweight," said Schwartz. "This shows the culprit is the fat itself rather than weight gain."

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