Obesity and Cancer Susceptibility in Mice

Abstract

In summary, we have shown that mice can be made obese by injection of gold thioglucose. Animals so treated develop lesions in the hypothalamus and subsequently become obese. Animals made obese by this technic show two interesting phenomena: such mice have an augmentation of tumor production and truly obese animals do not become pregnant. Hormonal imbalance occurs when hypothalamic obesity is produced. A condition results which apparently allows sufficient estrogen production to induce an increase in tumor production and at the same time keeps these obese animals from going through a normal estrus cycle.