Delay of Lung Adenocarcinoma (LAC-1) Development in Mice by Dietary Oleic Acid

ABSTRACT

Lung cancer is the leading cause of death by cancer, and is a major sanitary concern worldwide. Some nutrients, such as ω-9 fatty acids, have been proposed as anticancer agents. Thus, an olein-enriched diet was assayed in a murine model of lung adenocarcinoma (LAC-1) to evaluate neoplastic and paraneoplastic evolution in BALB/c mice. The organic assimilation of dietary fatty acids was confirmed in liver by gas chromatography. This experimental oleic acid-containing diet increased animal survival and tumour latency (analysed by the Kaplan-Meier method), improving neoplastic evolution and general status, with weak effects on the paraneoplastic syndrome (thymus atrophy, splenomegaly, splenocyte response to mitogen, blood anaemia, and leucocytosis). Tumour lipid oxidation was not involved. Thus, diet enrichment with olein, a natural source of the ω-9 oleic acid, significantly delayed progression of LAC-1 and increased tumour latency and mice survival. These results support its use in nutritional management of cancer, with further studies being encouraged.

Acknowledgments

This study was financially supported by the National University of Cordoba (SECYT-UNC, Arg.) and CONICET (Argentina). The authors declare that they have no conflict of interests. The experiments comply with the current laws of the country in which they were performed.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare that it represents an original work, which has not been previously published and is not currently being considered by another journal. If it is accepted for your prestigious Journal, it will not be published elsewhere in English or in any other language without the Editor´s consent.