Biomedical
Growth and Progression of TRAMP Prostate Tumors in Relationship to Diet and Obesity
Melissa J. L. Bonorden,
Michael E. Grossmann,
Olga P. Rogozina,
Katai J. Nkhata,
Joseph P. Grande,
Margot P. Cleary
Peer Reviewed
Abstract
To clarify effects of diet and body weight on prostate cancer development, three studies were undertaken using the TRAMP mouse model of this disease. In the first experiment, obesity was induced by injection of gold thioglucose (GTG). Age of prostate tumor detection (~33 wk) and death (~43 wk) was not significantly different among the groups. In the second study, TRAMP-C2 cells were injected into syngeneic C57BL6 mice and tumor progression was evaluated in mice fed either high-fat or low-fat diets. The high fat fed mice had larger tumors than did the low-fat fed mice. In the third study, tumor development was followed in TRAMP mice fed a high fat diet from 6 weeks of age. There were no significant effects of body weight status or diet on tumor development among the groups. When the tumors were examined for the neuroendocrine marker synaptophysin, there was no correlation with either body weight or diet. However, there was a significant correlation of the expression of synaptophysin with earlier age to tumor detection and death. In summary, TRAMP-C2 cells grew faster when the mice were fed a high-fat diet. Further synaptophysin may be a marker of poor prognosis independent of weight and diet.
Key Questions
1. What is the primary objective of the study?
The study aims to clarify the effects of diet and body weight on prostate cancer development by conducting three experiments using the TRAMP mouse model.
2. What methodology was employed in the research?
The researchers conducted three experiments:
- In the first experiment, obesity was induced by injection of gold thioglucose (GTG).
- In the second study, TRAMP-C2 cells were injected into syngeneic C57BL6 mice, and tumor progression was evaluated in mice fed either high-fat or low-fat diets.
- In the third study, tumor development was followed in TRAMP mice fed a high-fat diet from 6 weeks of age.
3. What were the main findings of the study?
The study found:
- In the first experiment, the age of prostate tumor detection (~33 weeks) and death (~43 weeks) was not significantly different among the groups.
- In the second study, high-fat fed mice had larger tumors than low-fat fed mice.
- In the third study, there were no significant effects of body weight status or diet on tumor development among the groups.
- When the tumors were examined for the neuroendocrine marker synaptophysin, there was no correlation with either body weight or diet.
Summary
Bonorden et al. (2012) conducted a series of experiments to investigate the effects of diet and obesity on prostate cancer development using the TRAMP mouse model. The study found that while high-fat diets were associated with larger tumors in certain experimental setups, there were no significant effects of body weight status or diet on tumor development in other experiments. These findings suggest that the relationship between diet, obesity, and prostate cancer progression may be complex and warrants further investigation.
