Olive Oil: The New Cancer Weapon
Reported January 05, 2009
(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Extra-virgin olive oil is a staple in Italian
cooking, and it may also have a medicinal benefit in the fight against cancer.
Researchers from the Catalan Institute of Oncology and the University of Granada
in Spain found good quality extra-virgin olive oil contains chemicals called
photochemical polyphenols that are capable of triggering cancer cell death.
"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," study coauthor Javier Menendez
was quoted as saying.
Researchers separated the oil into fractions and tested them against breast
cancer cells in lab experiments. All the fractions containing extra-virgin
photochemical polyphenols (lignans and secoirdoids) were found to effectively
inhibit HER2.
Study authors concluded these polyphenols might provide an excellent and safe
platform for the design of new anti-breast cancer drugs.
SOURCE: BMC Cancer, 2008;8:377 | 