Maternal High-Fat Diet Raises Breast Cancer Risk Across Generations

A high-fat diet may increase the risk of breast cancer across generations. Using mice, researchers observed that first- and third-generation female offspring that had been exposed to a high-fat diet while in utero were at a greater risk of developing breast cancer. The findings suggest that a high-fat diet should be added to known causes of lifestyle-related breast cancer, which currently include alcohol consumption, lack of physical exercise, obesity, choice of contraceptives, hormone therapy, and not breast-feeding. —Breast Cancer Research, July 2017