XOXO Medical Research News New research published in the open access journal BMC Cancer sheds more light on the suspected association between olive oil-rich Mediterranean diets and reductions in breast cancer risk. Javier Menendez from the Catalan Institute of Oncology and Antonio Segura-Carretero from the University of Granada in Spain led a team of researchers who set out to investigate which parts of olive oil were most active against cancer. Menendez said, "Our findings reveal for the first time that all the major complex phenols present in extra-virgin olive oil drastically suppress overexpression of the cancer gene HER2 in human breast cancer cells". Extra-virgin olive oil is the oil that results from pressing olives without the use of heat or chemical treatments. It contains phytochemicals that are otherwise lost in the refining process. Menendez and colleagues separated the oil into fractions and tested these against breast cancer cells in lab experiments. All the fractions containing the major extra-virgin phytochemical polyphenols (lignans and secoiridoids) were found to effectively inhibit HER2. Although these findings provide new insights on the mechanisms by which good quality oil, i.e. polyphenol-rich extra-virgin olive oil, might contribute to a lowering of breast cancer risk in a HER2-dependent manner, extreme caution must be applied when applying the lab results to the human situation. As the authors point out, "The active phytochemicals (i.e. lignans and secoiridoids) exhibited tumoricidal effects against cultured breast cancer cells at concentrations that are unlikely to be achieved in real life by consuming olive oil". Nevertheless, and according to the authors, "These findings, together with the fact that that humans have safely been ingesting significant amounts of lignans and secoiridoids as long as they have been consuming olives and extra-virgin oil, strongly suggest that these polyphenols might provide an excellent and safe platform for the design of new anti breast-cancer drugs". Dec. 18, 2008 - Can EVOO -- extra-virgin olive oil --- cut the risk of breast cancer? Yes -- but only the 20% to 30% of breast cancers that express the HER2 molecules, suggest studies by Javier A. Menendez, PhD, at the Catalan Institute of Oncology in Girona, Spain, and colleagues. The Spanish researchers wondered why some studies show that the olive-oil-rich Mediterranean diet cuts breast cancer risk while other studies do not. They theorized that the active compounds in olive oil only affect certain cancers. The breast cancer drug Herceptin targets the HER2 molecule on tumor cells. Could olive oil compounds have the same target? Menendez's team first isolated various compounds from EVOO -- which, because it is made without heat, keeps most of the olive compounds that are lost in more processed, lower quality olive oils. They found that two types of these compounds, secoiridoids and lignans, killed off HER2-positive human breast cancer cells but had little effect on HER2-negative cells. But this does not mean that eating a lot of EVOO will prevent or treat breast cancer. "Extreme caution must be applied" in interpreting their findings, Menendez and colleagues warn. One class of EVOO anticancer compounds, the secoiridoids, "rapidly split into inactive compounds" when eaten. These compounds likely won't help if eaten, but could be a starting point for development of new breast cancer drugs. On the other hand, the lignan compounds "may represent a different molecular scenario," Menendez and colleagues suggest. In mouse-feeding studies, tumor tissues accumulate lignans, "thus suggesting that the anti-cancer activity of lignans may be due to their direct local effects on the breast cancer tissues." A recent study suggested that eating flaxseed is beneficial to women with newly diagnosed breast cancer. Flaxseed has high lignan concentrations. The Menendez study appears in the open-access journal BMC Cancer.
Two articles on same study below.
Why extra-virgin olive oil is so good for you
Published: Thursday, 18-Dec-2008
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Good quality extra-virgin olive oil contains health-relevant chemicals, 'phytochemicals', that can trigger cancer cell death.
Olive Oil vs. Breast Cancer
WebMD Health News
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Sunday, December 21, 2008
Concentrated Cold Pressed EVOO can Trigger Cancer Cell Death (News-Medical.net)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil Compounds Fight Breast Cancer
By Daniel J. DeNoon
Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD
Even so, Menendez and colleagues note that much more study will be needed before doctors can recommend EVOO for breast cancer prevention or treatment'/
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