DEVELOPING YOSHIDA SARCOMA DOES NOT INFLUENCE THE FATTY-ACID COMPOSITION OF ADIPOSE TISSUES IN THE RAT

The potential involvement of individual fatty acids from diet or from adipose tissue in the outcome of cancer emphasizes the need for more i nsight into the relationship between fatty acids and tumor growth. The main objective of the present study was to examine whether rapid tumo r growth would induce changes in the fatty acid composition of adipose tissue, indicating selective use and thus deposition of dietary fatty acids and/or selective removal of stored fatty acids from adipose tis sue. We used a rodent model of transplanted solid tumor (Yoshida sarco ma) and measured the fatty acid composition from different adipose sit es in the absence and in the presence of tumor but at the same intake of dietary fatty acids. We found that Yoshida sarcoma could grow rapid ly without significantly altering the fatty acid composition of adipos e tissue, irrespective of its location. These results do not favor the hypothesis of a selective removal of fatty acids from adipose tissue by growing tumors. They moreover indicate that tumors do not modify th e storage of individual dietary fatty acids.