Recent research at the University suggests a potential link between alcohol consumption of pregnant animals and breast cancer in their offspring later in life.
Wendie Cohick and Dipak Sarkar of the Department of Animal Sciences at the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences are heading the research teams. The heightened risk is due to a rise in estrogen levels caused by fetal alcohol exposure.
Current research is still searching for the reason for the high estrogen, Sarkar said.
"Once we learn more about the cause, we can then use biotechnology approaches [such as] gene therapy [and] cell therapy to develop better treatment for these tumors," he said.
But fetal alcohol exposed male rats have not yet been tested for potential higher estrogen levels.
Sarkar said he and Cohick began the project along with a research team about one year ago. Cohick called her collaboration with Sarkar a perfect fit, as they are both in the Department of Animal Sciences and have labs in Foran Hall on Cook campus.
"Dr. Sarkar … has been conducting alcohol research for a number of years, studying the neuroendocrine and immune systems," Cohick said. "My research focuses on the hormonal regulation of normal breast development as well as breast cancer."
"We previously found that [when] pregnant rats [are] fed alcohol, their offspring develop immune problems," Sarkar said. "Hence, we tested whether fetal alcohol exposed female rats develop more malignant mammary tumors than the non-fetal alcohol exposed rats."
The new study of fetal alcohol disorders hinders the ability to get meaningful results from studying humans.
"It is difficult to find a large number of adults diagnosed with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Disorders at present because the major awareness of FASDs developed only recently," he said.
Sarkar said 30 rats were tested for the first phase of research, and the same number of animals will be tested in future experiments.
The next phase of research involves studying different levels of consumption at different stages of pregnancy, he said.
Research conducted so far involved administering a dose equivalent to two to three drinks per day during the second trimester of pregnancy, Sarkar said.
"We do not know at present whether the second trimester of pregnancy is the only time window for the alcohol susceptibility," he said. "We also do not know whether any particular age group of pregnant women shows more susceptibility."
Despite the fact research is far from complete, Sarkar had a recommendation for any female potentially exposed to fetal alcohol.
"Our research data suggests that it may be beneficial for frequent and early mammograms for women with mothers with a history of drinking," he said.
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