The number of cases of breast cancer in Western countries is five times higher than the number of cases in other developed countries. The Kimmel Cancer Centre, Jefferson, carried out a study revealing that high fat and cholesterol levels that are characteristic of the average American diet play a huge role in the developing and the spreading of breast cancer. The study was published in The American Journal of Pathology.
Mice were tested and fed a Western diet, typically higher in fat and cholesterol than the diet associated with other developed regions. The results convey that mice on the Western diet grew tumours that were 50% larger and that grew at a much faster rate than the tumours in mice that were fed a controlled diet.
We already know that immigrant populations, who have come from areas recording lower rates of the disease, experience an increased number of breast cancer cases than in their region of origin. The effect of diet on breast cancer development and spread is palpable. Fat and cholesterol levels should be monitored consistently as a preventative measure.