Children of overweight fathers with increased breast cancer risk

If fathers are overweight at birth, daughters will increase their risk of breast cancer
Breast cancer is a dangerous disease that threatens the lives of many women in the world. For this reason, medical professionals are always trying to find new ways to treat cancer more effectively. Also on the causes of the disease is researched intesiv. Scientists have now found that daughters of overweight fathers are more likely to develop breast cancer.

Researchers at the Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center found during an investigation that daughters of a father who is overweight at conception are more likely to develop breast cancer later in life. The experts published the results of their study in the journal "Nature".

Obesity is bad for our health. In addition, if men are obese at the time of their childbearing, it also increases the likelihood that daughters will develop breast cancer. (Image: Kurhan / fotolia.com)

Obesity changes the genes in sperm from fathers
The study on mice showed that obesity is able to alter the genes in the sperm of fathers, say the experts. This process then causes the affected person's daughters to delay development of the breast tissue. Later, this can lead to cancer, warn the doctors.

Overweight men suffer significant epigenetic changes in the sperm
Of course, our study was conducted on mice, but the findings also support recent findings in humans, the scientists explain. These showed that overweight men experienced significant epigenetic changes in their sperm, explains author Sonia de Assis. The study was the first animal study to find a link between paternal obesity and breast cancer in daughters. The effects of obesity are varied, for example, another study has previously shown: obesity affects the memory.

Obesity seems to alter our so-called microRNA signature
Obese male mice and normal-weight female mice produce female progeny that are increasingly overweight at birth. This leads to a delayed development of breast tissue in these offspring and then to increased rates of breast cancer, say the scientists. The obesity seems to alter the so-called microRNA (miRNA) signature (epigenetic regulators of gene expression), both in the sperm of the father as well as in the breast tissue of the daughter, explain the authors.

miRNAs cause changes in body weight
Genes can be turned on or off by epigenetic regulators. Thus, external or environmental factors, such as the lifestyle of a person, passed on to the offspring, say the experts. Gene expression is the process by which certain genes are activated to produce a required protein. So-called miRNAs can apparently transmit epigenetic information from obese fathers to their daughters. Thus, these miRNAs can cause changes in body weight, which are linked to the development of cancer, add the physicians.

Epigenetic changes in the sperm affect the next generation cancer risk
The study provides evidence that the body weight of the father at birth affects the daughter's weight at birth and during childhood, said Sonia de Assis of the Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center. Our animal study suggests that epigenetic changes in spermatozoa may have consequences for next-generation cancer risk, adds de Assis.

New investigations are intended to clarify the effects on humans
New studies must now clarify whether the same relationship exists in humans. Until this question is fully resolved, we should all follow good advice, whether women or men: Maintain a healthy diet and maintain a healthy body weight. This not only gives you a direct benefit, but you also give your offspring the best chances to grow up later healthy and lively, explain the experts. (As)