Potential link to an everyday food in cancer findings

Oleic acid, key olive oil component, implicated in metastasis — but researchers emphasize need for more clarity.

A closer look at cancer has implicated oleic acid, a key component of olive oil, in the progression of the disease from the original tumor to distant organs, or metastasis.

The investigators stressed that their research is complex and ongoing, and noted that the findings do not negate previous findings suggesting that olive oil can help lower the risk of cardiovascular disease and other health problems.

For decades, a major focus of oncology has been preventing metastasis. As a result, early detection programs have been devised for breast, skin, colon, and other cancers, raising the chances of successful treatment.

The lab of Jessalyn Ubellacker, an assistant professor of molecular metabolism at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, is exploring links between diet and cancer spread and has found that malignant cells pick up a protective, fatty coat of oleic acid in the lymph nodes. That coat acts as a shield against free radicals, reactive molecules in the bloodstream that can attack the walls of unprotected cancer cells, destroying them.

“We believe that when cancer cells travel through the bloodstream, they face challenges in adapting to this environment,” Ubellacker said. “During this process, they undergo oxidation from free radicals that essentially tear away at the phospholipid layers of the cell — the cell membranes.”

BBS Professor Jessalyn Ubellacker is featured in this article in the Harvard Gazette. Read more here.