High-Fat Diet Alters Mouse Gut Stem Cells, Raises Cancer Risk

A study in mice found that a Western-style high-fat diet increased the number and growth of intestinal stem cells, and genetically predisposed mice developed more and larger tumors. Some DNA changes in the stem cells persisted after the mice switched to a low-fat diet, and renewed high-fat exposure prompted a stronger response. Researchers say these changes could help explain how diet may affect tumor development, but experts caution that the findings do not establish that high-fat diets cause colon cancer in people or that changing diets reverses human cancer risk; further research is needed.