Enhancement of pancreatic carcinogenesis in hamsters fed a high-fat diet ad libitum and at a controlled calorie intake.

An enhancement of pancreatic cancer induced by N-nitrosobis-(2-oxopropyl)amine (BOP) was reported previously in Syrian hamsters fed high-fat diet following carcinogen treatment. The purpose of our research was to determine if this enhancement was due to the consumption of more calories by the hamsters fed the high-fat diet. Male hamsters were treated with a single injection of BOP (20 mg/kg body weight s.c.) at 8 weeks of age. One week later they started either on a low-fat diet (4.3% corn oil) or a high-fat diet (20.5% corn oil) that was fed until the end of the experiment at 92 weeks after BOP. Diets were fed either ad libitum or in a control-fed protocol. The control-fed groups had equivalent calorie intakes and were restricted slightly in comparison with the ad libitum-fed hamsters. BOP treatment reduced survival slightly but survival did not differ significantly in accordance with dietary assignment. Body weight was elevated in the hamsters fed high-fat diet ad libitum in comparison with those fed low-fat diet ad libitum. However, differences were not observed in hamsters fed low- and high-fat diets by the control-fed protocol. Pancreatic carcinogenesis was enhanced about 3- to 4-fold when hamsters were fed high-fat diet by either protocol. The degree of enhancement did not differ with the feeding regimen. However, the higher death rate with pancreatic cancer occurred earlier in the ad libitum-fed hamsters than in the control-fed hamsters.