title: Membrane fatty acids of breast carcinoma: contribution of host fatty acids and tumor properties.
abstract: To assess the part that host fatty-acid supply and tumor-specific fatty-acid utilization contribute to the membrane lipid composition of tumor tissue, intra-individual comparisons of membrane fatty acids were carried out between breast-carcinoma tissue and non-tumorous breast tissue adjacent to the tumor and taken as reference. Phospholipids were purified by thin-layer chromatography from tumor biopsies obtained from 59 patients with a localized presentation of breast cancer, and fatty acids analyzed by capillary gas chromatography. Elevated levels of palmitic, palmitoleic and arachidonic acids, along with a low level of linoleic acid, were observed in membrane phospholipids of tumors with poor histoprognostic grade. The level of mono-unsaturated fatty acids was higher, and the level of essential fatty acids was lower in the tumor than in the reference breast tissue. Fatty-acid-desaturating activity was not detectable in tumors. A positive relationship was observed among patients for most of the fatty acids between carcinoma and non-tumorous breast tissue, except for mono-unsaturated and essential fatty-acid levels, which were not correlated between both tissues. These data suggest that mechanisms specifically related to malignant transformation and tumor progression influence the membrane fatty-acid profile of breast carcinoma. Fatty acid supply to the tumor, possibly modified by metabolic conditions related to the host, also seems to play a decisive role in this composition.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Biologie des Tumeurs, Hôpital Bretonneau, Tours, France.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Chajès
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lanson
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Fetissof
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lhuillery
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bougnoux
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001940:Breast / Q000737:chemistry*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000201:enzymology; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000201:enzymology; D044943:Fatty Acid Desaturases / Q000378:metabolism; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008563:Membrane Lipids / Q000032:analysis*; D008861:Microsomes / Q000201:enzymology; D008875:Middle Aged; D010743:Phospholipids / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D005227:Fatty Acids; D008563:Membrane Lipids; D010743:Phospholipids; D044943:Fatty Acid Desaturases