Journal of Clinical Oncology, Vol 15, 1377-1384, Copyright © 1997 by American Society of Clinical Oncology
Fatty acid composition of adipose tissue, an indication of dietary fatty acids, and breast cancer prognosis
JA Petrek, LC Hudgins, M Ho, DR Bajorunas and J Hirsch
Department of Surgery, Biostatistics and Epidemiology, and Medicine, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY 10021, USA. jpetrek@mskcc.org
PURPOSE: Fatty acid composition of adipose tissue is an indicator of the
long-term ingestion pattern of several specific fatty acids. There is good
correlation of antecedent diet with the essential fatty acids, and there is
reflection of the diet with the fatty acids that can be synthesized. The
relationship between the fatty acid levels and lymph node status and
clinical outcome was examined. METHODS: At the time of diagnostic surgery,
161 women with clinical stage T1NO breast cancer had subcutaneous adipose
tissue (breast and abdominal) aspirated. The concentrations of 35 fatty
acids, seven summed classes, and six fatty acid groups were measured by
capillary gas chromatography. Lymph node status was determined with
axillary dissection, and patients were followed-up (mean, 7.3 years) for
clinical outcome. RESULTS: There was no significant association of any
adipose tissue fatty acids with overall survival, although few (16 of 161
women) died of breast cancer. However, the odds of having positive lymph
nodes (57 of 161 women) were significantly higher for women with a greater
adipose tissue proportion of oleic acid (odds ratio [OR], 7.56; 95%
confidence interval [CI], 1.78 to 32.1) or total saturated acids (OR, 8.43;
95% CI, 1.48 to 40.0) and significantly lower with a higher proportion of
trans fatty acids (OR, 0.24; 95% CI, 0.07 to 0.77), as assessed by
multivariate logistic regression. CONCLUSION: These data support previous
research with dietary questionnaire methodology, suggesting that specific
dietary fatty acids may be associated with breast cancer promotion. Further
research with long-term clinical follow-up is necessary to investigate
these observations in large, diverse populations before dietary
recommendations can be envisioned.
