Correlation in the proportion of oleic to vaccenic acid of plasma phospholipids with the early stages of hepatoma 7288CTC growth

Abstract The major octadecenoate isomers, oleate (Δ9) and vaccenate (Δ11), were measured in the plasma phospholipids of rats bearing hepatoma 7288CTC as the tumor developed. The percentage of vaccenate decreased from 45% of the octadeceoate fraction at day zero to 25% by the 15th day. A significant decrease (45% to 35%) in the percentage of vaccenate occurred by the sixth day, well in advance of detectable tumor growth. The percentage of vaccenate continued to decrease as a function of time until day 15, after which it remained constant. Detection of alterations in plasma phospholipids at an early stage of tumor development in rats suggests that experiments should be carried out to determine if the same effects occur in humans.