Characterization of fatty acid profile in breast tissues from Manitoba breast cancer patients

Background. Breast cancer is the most prevalent cancer diagnosed in women and the second most common cause of female cancer mortality worldwide. Amongst the several risk factors identified for the development of breast cancer, the amount and type of the dietary fat have been the focus of many recent studies.;Methods. Patients were recruited from St. Boniface General Hospital (SBGH), signed a consent form and filled out a food questionnaire. On Pre-Operative assessment clinic, blood work was done and plasma and red blood cells were separated. After surgery, sections were obtained from tumoral, marginal and normal breast tissues for histology and biochemical analysis. Data were analyzed by analysis-of-variance (ANOVA) testing followed by posthoc tukey test.;Results. We had fourteen female breast cancer patients in our study. They were mostly (63.4%) postmenopausal with mean age of 61.5 years and BMI of 28.1. Half of the patients rarely or never consumed fast food, 64.3% consumed 2 or fewer servings of fish per month, 85.8% were non-smoker. Extracted lipids from marginal tissue were significantly higher than those in normal or tumoral tissue. The lipid profile in tumoral tissue was significantly different in terms of fatty acid composition compared to normal and marginal tissue with less linoleic and alpha linolenic acid and more long chain polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) of omega-3 and omega-6 series. Marginal tissue showed significantly less alpha linolenic acid compared to normal tissue.;There was an inverse association between plasma free fatty acids and grade of breast cancer. A positive correlation was observed between plasma 20:3 n-6 and 18:1 t4 and breast cancer grade. Red blood cells’ level of 20:3 n-6 and 22:5 n-6 were positively correlated with breast cancer grade. An inverse correlation existed between plasma level of 22:6 n-3 and breast cancer stage.;Objective. This study was carried out to investigate the fatty acid composition of tumoral, marginal (the tissue surrounding the tumoral tissue) and normal breast tissue in female breast cancer patients. It also examines the correlation between the plasma and red blood cell fatty acid profile and severity of the cancer.;Conclusion. Reviewing the literature shows tumor promoting effect of omega-6 series of PUFA and anti-proliferative effect of omega-3 PUFA. The results of our study also showed that high red blood cell omega-6 PUFA and low plasma omega-3 PUFA were associated with breast cancer of higher grade and stage respectively. Furthermore we found significantly different lipid profile in tumoral tissue compared to normal and marginal tissue. The changes in the fatty acid profile could be reflecting the alteration in homeostasis or a response to tumor proliferation. A comprehensive knowledge of breast cancer biology is crucial to developing new treatment and preventive modalities.