BIRMINGHAM, Ala., Jan. 2 (UPI) -- How the body handles calories is much more important to controlling cancer risks than how many or how few calories are consumed, suggests a U.S. study.
University of Alabama at Birmingham researchers say they found transgenic mice predisposed to prostate cancer that were lean had a much slower progression of cancer than did heavier mice.
"This study suggests that body composition, being lean as opposed to being obese, has a greater protective effect against cancer," said study leader Tim R. Nagy, a professor of nutrition sciences. "Excess calorie retention, rather than consumption, confers cancer risk."
Nagy's team placed transgenic mice into two controlled environments, either 27 degrees centigrade or 22 degrees centigrade, and fed them equal amounts of food. The mice living at the cooler environment needed more energy to regulate their internal temperature and so burned more calories simply to stay warm.
These mice lost weight and were leaner than the mice kept at the warmer temperature that were heavier and had more fat mass. Cancer in these mice progressed at a much greater rate than in the lean mice, according to the study published in Cancer Research.
