Health & Medicine - Posted by Richard Lewis-Brown on Friday, July 30, 2010 15:11 - 4 Comments 
(4 votes, average: 3.00 out of 5)
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(4 votes, average: 3.00 out of 5) Loading ...Diet linked to changes in breast cancer DNA
Researchers measured DNA changes in breast cancer tumors of 162 women with stage I to IV breast cancer in conjunction with a detailed assessment of each woman's dietary habits and demographics. The study found a direct correlation between alcohol and folate intake and epigenetic patterns in breast cancer tumors. Above, a breast cancer cell. (Credit: National Cancer Institute)
BROWN (US)—A new study suggests that epigenetic profiles of breast cancer tumors have a direct association with diet, alcohol, and tumor size. The finding could offer a new way to predict the severity of the disease.
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The text of this article by Futurity is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivatives License.
“We undertook this study to help illuminate how diet and environmental factors might contribute to differences observed among breast cancers,” says Brock Christensen, a researcher at Brown University and lead author of the study published in the most recent edition of PLoS Genetics.
Epigenetics refers to the control of patterns of gene expression in cells, which give rise to the necessary differences responsible for creating the complex and interacting tissues in the body.
The study point to the emergence of new biomarkers that researchers hope will give a more detailed view of the environmental factors that contribute to tumor development and could, in the future, provide improvements in diagnostics and treatment decisions—as well as potentially more personalized recommendations to help prevent recurrence.
The researchers measured epigenetic profiles in stage I to IV breast tumors from 162 women, taking a detailed assessment of an individual’s demographic and dietary information, as well as breast cancer tumor characteristics.
The study’s data show the promise of tumor epigenetic signatures to provide more detailed tumor staging, and eventually prediction of prognosis. In particular, the study found that alcohol consumption, folate intake (vitamin B9), and tumor size are each independently associated with epigenetic profiles of tumors.
“By investigating epigenetic patterns in tumors from patients we have extensive lifestyle data on, we are helping to bridge the gap between environmental research and translational research,” says Karl Kelsey, professor of community health at Brown and a contributing author on the paper.
“This study provides a new window for finding environmental links to breast disease,” says John Wiencke, a professor at the University of California, San Francisco and the paper’s senior author. “Our work indicates that we will soon have new ways to monitor and assess lifestyle and environmental factors for breast cancer.”
The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation.
More news from Brown: http://news.brown.edu/
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4 Comments
emc2
v
You can read the paper by following the links from Brown’s news page. I looked at the graphs. It reads, “(A) There is a trend toward decreased methylation with increasing alcohol intake. (B) There is a trend toward increased methylation with increasing dietary folate.” From what I gather on page 5 of the paper, increased methylation is associated increasing tumor size for some CpG loci. The paper notes that folate has not been proven to provide any protection.
I have no biological, medical or statistics knowledge, so please be aware that I don’t know what I’m talking about and may say something incorrect.
emc2
Took suggestion of v and tried to read the article. So the story is really about whether hyper/hypomethylation of DNA can be used as an indicator of cancer and of cancer staging, and not really about alcohol/folate. That said, since both hyper and hypomethylation of DNA happen in cancer (another article), this article is still indecipherable, with increased alcohol consumption associated in one direction and increased folate in another, but both linked to cancer. I guess I’ll wait for the movie.
Bonnie Van Gilder
Wow — this sounds like it could be really interesting. But, unless the reader is a scientist it is impossible to read. For example, take a look at this graph:
“Epigenetics refers to the control of patterns of gene expression in cells, which give rise to the necessary differences responsible for creating the complex and interacting tissues in the body.” …. “gene expression”…. come on, surely there is someone in Brown’s press department that can translate interesting science into every day language.
What does this mean? Is there some reason this summary does not answer the big questions it raises, as in, what is the effect of alcohol and diet on breast cancer tumors. The article states these factors are independently associated with the epigenetic profile of the tumor. I know basic stats and biomedical terms. I’m still at a loss.