The anti-tumour and anti-cholesterol impacts of tocotrienol-rich fraction (TRF) were investigated in rats treated with the chemical carcinogen 7,12-dimethylbenz [&agr;]anthracene (DMBA), which is known to induce mammary carcinogenesis and hypercholesterolaemia. DMBA administration to rats was associated with the appearance of multiple tumours on mammary glands after 6 months. Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and glutathione-S-transferase (GST) are used as marker enzymes to monitor the severity of carcinogenesis. Although no tumours were visible on livers, hepatic ALP and GST activities of DMBA-treated rats were profoundly elevated in comparison to enzyme activities of normal control rats. Feeding of TRF (10 mg/kg body weight/day) for 6 months, isolated from rice bran oil (RBO), to DMBA-administered rats, reduced the severity and extent of neoplastic transformation in the mammary glands. Similarly, plasma and mammary ALP activities increased during carcinogenesis (95% and 43%, respectively), were significantly decreased in TRF-treated rats, whereas TRF mediated a further increase of 51% in hepatic ALP activity. TRF treatment to rats maintained low levels of GST activities in liver (∼32%) and mammary glands (∼21%), which is consistent with anti-carcinogenic properties of TRF. Administration of DMBA also caused a significant increase of 30% in plasma total cholesterol and 111% in LDL-cholesterol levels compared with normal control levels. Feeding of TRF to rats caused a significant decline of 30% in total cholesterol and 67% in LDL-cholesterol levels compared with the DMBA-administered rats. The experimental hypercholesterolaemia caused a significant increase in enzymatic activity (23%) and protein mass (28%) of hepatic 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl co-enzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase. Consistent with TRF-mediated reduction in plasma lipid levels, enzymatic activity and protein mass of HMG-CoA reductase was significantly reduced. These results indicate that TRF has potent anti-cancer and anti-cholesterol effects in rats.