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Mediterranean diet, olive oil and cancer

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Abstract

Olive oil is an integral ingredient of the «Mediterranean diet» and accumulating evidence suggests that it may have a potential role in lowering the risk of several types of cancers. The mechanisms by which the carcer-preventing effects of olive oil can be performed, however, are not known. We recently hypothesized that a novel molecular explanation concerning the anti-cancer actions of olive oil may relate to the ability of its monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) oleic acid (OA; 18:1n-9) to specifically regulate cancer-related oncogenes. Supporting our hypothesis, exogenous suplementation of cultured breast cancer cells with physiological concentrations of OA was found to suppress the overexpression of HER2 (Her-2/neu,erB-2), a well-characterized oncogene playing a key role in the etiology, progression and response to chemotherapy and endocrine therapy in approximately 20% of breast carcinomas. OA treatment was also found to synergistically enhance the efficacy of trastuzumab, a humanized monoclonal antibody binding with high affinity to the ectodomain (ECD) of the Her2-coded p185HER2 oncoprotein. Moreover, OA exposure significantly diminished the proteolytic cleavage of the ECD of HER2 and, consequently, its activation status, a crucial molecular event that determines both the aggressive behavior and theresponse to trastuzumab of Her2-overexpressing breast carcinomas. Our most recent findings further reveal that OA exposure may suppresses HER2 at the transcriptional level by up-regulating the expression of theEts protein PEA3-a DNA-binding protein that specifically blocks HER2 promoter activity-in breast, ovarian and stomach cancer cell lines. This anti-HER2 property of OA offers a previously ously unrecognized molecular mechanism by which olive oil may regulate the malignant behavior of cancer cells. From a clinical perspective, it could provide an effective means of influencing the outcome of Her-2/neu-overexpressing human carcinomas with poor prognosis. Indeed, OA-induced transcriptional pression of HER2 oncogene may represent a novel genomic explanation linking «Mediterranean diet», olive oil and cancer as it seems to equally operate in various types of Her-2/neu-related carcinomas.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Medical Oncology. Institut Catala d'Oncologia, Hospital de Girona Dr. Josep Trueta, 7007, Girona, Spain

    Ramón Colomer

  2. Department of Medicine, Evanston Northwestern Healthcare Research Institute, Evanston, IL, USA

    Javier A. Menéndez

  3. Department of Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA

    Javier A. Menéndez

  4. Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA

    Javier A. Menéndez

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  1. Ramón Colomer
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  2. Javier A. Menéndez
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Colomer, R., Menéndez, J.A. Mediterranean diet, olive oil and cancer. Clin Transl Oncol 8, 15–21 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12094-006-0090-0

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