Palm Oil Linked To Cancer Metastasis
Ananya Bakshi ‘24
Pizza, burgers, fries, and more: some of our favorite guilty pleasures could be linked to the rapid spread of skin and mouth cancer. Recent studies on mice suggest that fatty acids found in palm oil can contribute to the metastasis of cancerous tumors throughout the body. Fatty acids are the essential building blocks of the fat in our bodies and food that we need to survive. According to the American Health Association, there are approximately 20 different kinds of fatty acids in the food we consume, some of which are beneficial and others harmful. Mono and polyunsaturated fatty acids fall in the former category, providing protection against coronary heart disease and dementia, respectively. The latter and more dangerous class consists of saturated and trans fats, which increase the risk of heart and other health problems. These are the fats found in palm oil that tumors can use to grow.
A research team from the Institute for Research in Biomedicine in Barcelona, Spain, led by Dr. Salvador Aznar-Benitah, performed experiments on human cancer cells from the skin and mouth. The team exposed these cells to 3 types of fatty acids - palmitic, oleic, and linoleic - for 4 days and then transferred these cells to mice under controlled conditions for diet and environment. The metabolism of fatty acids has previously been found to provide fuel for the growth of cancers. While the oils themselves did not cause cancer growth, it was discovered that palmitic acid - the principal saturated fatty acid in palm oil - caused changes within tumor cells that could increase the expression of genes causing metastasis of these tumors. Metastasis occurs when parts of these growths separate from the original tumor and enter the bloodstream or lymphatic system through which they can reach other parts of the body and continue expanding.
To further test the effect of palmitic acid on the metastasis of cancer, the scientists conducted a separate experiment in which they exposed mouth cancer cells to palmitic acid in a petri dish for 4 days and then grew the cells without palmitic acid for an additional 2 weeks. When these cells were transferred to mice, it was found that the tumor cells were still extremely metastatic, showing that the cancer cells have a type of “memory” produced by epigenetic changes - changes caused by environmental stimuli that can alter or promote gene expression without any adjustment to the DNA sequence. Palmitic acid in particular allows cancerous cells to quickly form a neural network around themselves and collect the necessary macromolecules to grow into significantly larger tumors, pieces of which can then travel further than the range of the primary tumor.
The research done by the Barcelona team appears promising for future endeavors to develop targeted therapy drugs that could reverse the epigenetic changes to cancer cells caused by the fatty acids in palm oil. While it is still too early to recommend dietary changes, the team hopes to begin clinical trials within the next few years and develop ways to reduce or prevent metastasis.
Sources:
https://www.socialpost.news/palm-oil-can-promote-the-spread-of-tumors-in-the-body/
https://newatlas.com/science/fatty-acid-palm-oil-cancer-metastasis/
https://theecologist.org/2021/nov/11/palm-oil-linked-spread-cancer
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