Folate intake in North America has drastically increased over the past decade due to folic acid fortification and widespread supplemental use. The role of folate in breast cancer is highly controversial and the effects of folic acid supplementation on breast cancer patients are currently unknown. An animal study was performed to determine the effects of folic acid supplementation on the progression of the mammary tumors in the DMBA-carcinogen model. Folic acid supplementation was associated with more rapid sentinel tumor progression and with higher sentinel tumor weight, volume, and area, although no clear dose-responsive relationship was observed. Folic acid supplementation was associated with an increased expression of proapoptotic protein PARP and decreased expression of proliferation protein PCNA. These data suggest that folic acid supplementation may promote the progression of established mammary tumors. Whether or not folic acid supplementation may adversely affect the outcome of patients with breast cancer warrants further studies.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:TORONTO/oai:tspace.library.utoronto.ca:1807/30572 |
| Date | 07 December 2011 |
| Creators | Deghan Manshadi, Shaidah |
| Contributors | Kim, Young-In |
| Source Sets | University of Toronto |
| Language | en_ca |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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