Study warns eating fatty foods may increase colon cancer risk

By Stephen Beech

Eating fatty foods may increase the risk of colon cancer by changing intestinal stem cells, reveals new research.

American scientists found that consuming a high-fat diet leaves “lasting changes” in intestinal stem cells — potentially increasing the chance of potentially deadly tumors developing.

Around one in 25 people develop colon cancer during their lifetime, and obesity increases the risk by up to 50%.

Colon cancer can arise when intestinal stem cells, which normally produce new cells to maintain a healthy intestine, begin to grow uncontrollably.

The new study, published in the journal Stem Cell Reports, reveals how a high-fat diet can alter stem cells and promote tumor development.

Researchers at Arizona State University (ASU) fed mice a Western-style high-fat diet for around six months.

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Compared with mice on a low-fat diet, the high-fat diet mice gained more weight and developed more intestinal stem cells, which also grew faster.

Mice genetically predisposed to intestinal cancer developed more and larger tumors when fed the high-fat diet.

The researchers also identified changes in the DNA of intestinal stem cells that may help explain their increased growth and survival.

Although stem cell behavior returned to normal after mice switched to a low-fat diet, after four weeks around 18% of DNA changes persisted.

Study leader Miyeko Mana, an assistant professor in ASU’s School of Life Sciences, said: “When mice returned to a high-fat diet, their intestinal stem cells responded more quickly and strongly than those of mice exposed to the diet for the first time.

“Mice genetically predisposed to intestinal cancer also developed more and larger tumors after repeated exposure to a high-fat diet than after a single period of exposure.”

She added: “The findings suggest that a high-fat diet can leave lasting changes in intestinal stem cells, making them more responsive to future high-fat exposure and, together with genetic mutations, increasing the likelihood of tumor development.

“The study also suggests that maintaining a healthy, low-fat diet may help regulate intestinal stem cell growth and reduce colon cancer risk.”