Affiliation

• ¹Department of Biochemistry & Cancer Biology, Meharry Medical College, Nashville, TN, USA
• ²Department of Professional Education, Neurosciences & Pharmacology, Nashville, TN, USA
• ³Department of Pathology, Meharry Medical College, Nashville, TN, USA

Corresponding Author

Salil K. Das, Sc.D., D.Sc, Professor of Biochemistry & Cancer Biology, Meharry Medical College, Nashville, TN 37208, USA. Tel: (615) 327-6988; Fax: (615) 327-6442; E-mail: sdas@mmc.edu

Citation

Das, S.K., et al. Protection Against Dimethylbenz[a] Anthracene-Induced Breast Cancer in Female Rats by α-Lactalbumin. (2016) Intl J Cancer Oncol 3(1): 1-6.

Copy rights

© 2016 Das, S.K. This is an Open access article distributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Keywords

Abstract

  Consumption of α-lactalbumin as dietary protein offers a beneficial effect on breast cancer development. Breast cancer was developed by gavage administration of single dose of dimethylbenz(a)anthracene (DMBA) in female rats, maintained on AIN-76A diet with either 20% casein or α-lactalbumin (a component of whey protein). All tumors were detected by palpation. After approximately 130 days of DMBA administration, the animals were euthanized. There was a delay in the development of breast tumor in the α-lactalbumin group in comparison to the casein group. The number of tumors per rat was less in the α-lactalbumin group than that in the casein group at any time point up to 130 days after DMBA administration. Also the incidence of tumors and tumor volume was less in the α-lactalbumin group than those in the casein group. The casein group had a mixture of grade I, grade II and grade III tumors whereas the α-lactalbumin group had mostly grade I tumor. Furthermore, the proliferative index was significantly lower in the α-lactalbumin group than that in the casein group.