Synthesis a Publication of UC Davis Cancer Center

Lipid profiler
(continued)

Plus, "You had to eat a lot of omega 3 oils to get an affect. With conjugated linoleic acid, you only need a little to get a result in a laboratory animal - concentrations of about one-tenth of one percent of one's diet," he says.

A good thing, too. In one of nature's little jokes, conjugated linoleic acid is found in beef, whole milk, butter and cheese - foods doctors have been telling Americans for years that they need to reduce. Researchers estimate that consumption of conjugated linoleic acid has decreased 30 percent in the last 20 years, partly because of dietary changes spurred by concerns about saturated fat.

With a grant from the California Breast Cancer Research Program, Erickson is investigating how conjugated linoleic acid can prevent metastasis in breast cancer in mice. His specific focus is the cascade of events that occur when new blood vessels are formed.

Earlier studies suggest that conjugated linoleic acid can influence the production of blood vessels. Scientists hypothesize that conjugated linoleic acid regulates vascular endothelial growth factor, a protein that causes new blood vessels to grow. Cancerous cells have the discouraging and dangerous ability to stimulate the formation of nutrient-bearing blood vessels, thus spurring their own growth. This process, known as angiogenesis, allows cancer to invade surrounding tissues and spread, or metastasize, to distant locations in the body.