We studied the effects of different dietary fats on experimental rat mammary lumorigenesis induced by 9,10-dimethyl-1, 2-benzanthracene (DMBA). Rats were randomly placed into four groups fed different diets: a chow diet, and high-fat (15%) diets derived from avocado, soybean or olive oils. The rats were killed 12 weeks after treatment with DMBA (a single dvse of 10 mg/rat) and maintenance on these diets. The olive diet was associated with a significant reduction in the tumorigenic effect of DMBA: tumor incidence decreased to 30%, as compared to 44%-55% in the other dietary groups studied (p < 0.05). The protective antitumor effect of the olive diet was found to be connected to its dietary content of monounsaturated fatty acids such as oleic and palmitic acids and with serum concentrations of stearic acid. The promotive tumorigenic effects of the other high-fat diets were associated with their high levels of some polyunsaturated fatty acids (linoleic and alinolenic). Malignant mammary tissue exhibited higher values than benign tissue for all the argyrophilic-nucleolar-organizer region parameters measured. The tumor-associated protein p53 was accumulated to high levels in the blood of tumor-bearing rats, but not in that of the non tumor-bearing rats.