Olive oil component suppresses cancer gene
Olive oil may improve cancer therapies |
Scientists are getting nearer to understanding the mechanism by which olive oil may reduce the risk of breast cancer.
They have found that oleic acid, the main monounsaturated fatty acid
found in olive oil, prevents over-expression of an oncogene thought to
play a major role in the disease. Over-expression of the human epidermal
growth factor receptor 2 (HER2/neu) oncogene is seen in about 20 per
cent of breast cancers and is associated with an unfavourable clinical
outcome and resistance to chemotherapy.
Using human breast cancer models with high levels of HER2/neu, they found
that oleic acid suppresses over-expression of the oncogene, suggesting
that dietary supplementation with the fatty acid could have a role in
the prevention or management of such cancers.
Furthermore, oleic acid was found to make HER2/neu more sensitive to
the effects of the monoclonal antibody treatment trastuzumab (Herceptin).
At clinically relevant concentrations of trastuzumab, oleic acid and
trastuzumab were found to act synergistically to down-regulate HER2/neu expression. Therefore, the researchers say that oleic acid may be even
more beneficial when given in combination with other therapies directed
at the oncogene, and that dietary counselling could be designed to delay
or prevent trastuzumab resistance in this type of breast cancer. The
paper is published
early online in Annals of Oncology. |
The
Pharmaceutical Journal
Acrobat
Reader