Olive Oil May Protect Against Breast Cancer

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Olive Oil May Protect Against Breast Cancer

JoAnn Guest

Dec 28, 2006 12:40 PST

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By Amanda Gardner

HealthDay Reporter

 

(HealthDayNews) -- For years, scientists have thought that olive oil

might help prevent breast cancer.

 

Now they may have discovered why.

 

In laboratory experiments, oleic acid, the main monounsaturated

fatty acid in olive oil, suppressed one of the most important genes

involved in breast cancer.

 

" This is the first molecular support for the Mediterranean diet, "

said study author Javier Menendez, a research scientist with the

Evanston Northwestern Healthcare Research Institute in Illinois. The

report appears in the Jan. 10 issue of the Annals of Oncology.

 

Others, however, urged caution in interpreting the findings.

 

" It's an interesting story, but it's all done in cell cultures and

that's not necessarily how it will interact in the body, " said Dr.

Jay Brooks, chief of hematology/oncology at the Ochsner Clinic

Foundation in New Orleans.

 

" It certainly is very promising, but there is a very long way to go

between doing this in an animal or human context versus doing it on

cells in a test tube, " added Dr. Marleen Meyers, a medical

oncologist with the New York University Cancer Institute.

 

Epidemiological studies have reported lower rates of breast cancer

in people from the Mediterranean region, where a lot of olive oil is

produced and consumed. This has led to speculation that the diet,

including olive oil, may be responsible.

 

No one knows, however, if the protective effect can be found in

olive oil, or in another ingredient besides oleic acid in olive oil,

or in another food or if it has nothing whatsoever to do with diet

and instead can be attributed to genetics.

 

For this study, Menendez and his colleagues examined human breast

cancer cells that had been grown for this research.

 

Specifically, they were looking at the effect of oleic acid on the

Her-2/neu gene. The Her-2 gene is overexpressed in more than one-

fifth of people with breast cancer and also tends to signal the

presence of a particularly " bad " cancer.

 

" Higher Her-2 levels generally mean the cancer is more aggressive

and tends to respond less well to certain kinds of chemotherapy, "

Meyers said. " It is prognostically unfavorable. "

 

In the cells, oleic acid cut levels of the gene Her-2/neu by up to

46 percent.

 

In addition, oleic acid seemed to enhance the effectiveness of the

drug Herceptin, which targets the Her-2/neu gene, and increased the

expression of a protein that works to suppress tumors.

 

Menendez and his colleagues are now seeking funds to confirm the

findings in animal studies.

 

For Menendez, the news is already good. " I'm really happy. I'm from

Spain. I eat a lot of olive oil, " he said. Spain is the world's

biggest producer of olive oil.

 

" Olive oil is not toxic at all. It's a very safe habit for people, "

he added.

 

 

" Things that we take into our body can have profound effects, "

Brooks

said. " Before you start adding things to your diet, be very careful

because we don't know what the effects will be. "

 

" If it does turn out to be an effect, it's an easy step in terms of

recommending to people, but caveats have to be taken, " Meyers added.

 

http://www.aboutoliveoil.org/aboutoliveoil/ver2/index.php?id=170

 

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