A new scientific study has found that a type of fat often found in palm oil could help certain cancers spread more easily in the body.
This fat, called palmitic acid, is very common in our daily diets, especially in processed foods. The researchers say it might be playing a hidden role in making some cancers worse.
This study was led by Professor Salvador Aznar-Benitah from IRB Barcelona and published in the well-known journal Nature. The team looked at how palmitic acid affects the spread of oral cancer and skin cancer (melanoma) in mice.
What they discovered was alarming: palmitic acid made the cancer more likely to spread from one part of the body to another—a process called metastasis. Metastasis is the main reason why cancer becomes deadly, as it’s much harder to treat once it has moved to other areas.
Fatty acids are basic parts of fat, and we need them to survive. But not all fatty acids are the same. Palmitic acid is found in large amounts in palm oil, which is widely used in cookies, instant noodles, chocolate, and many fast foods.
Other fatty acids, like oleic acid (in olive oil) and linoleic acid (in flaxseeds), didn’t have the same harmful effect in the study. These healthier fats didn’t seem to make the cancer spread.
The study showed that palmitic acid doesn’t just affect cancer for a short time. It actually changes the cancer cells in a way that lasts. These long-term changes are called epigenetic changes.
That means the cells’ behavior changes even though their DNA doesn’t. It’s like the cells “remember” being exposed to palmitic acid and keep acting in a dangerous way, even after the fat is no longer in the body.
When the scientists fed mice a diet with added palmitic acid, they noticed something strange. The cancer cells seemed to build a kind of communication system around the tumor. This allowed the cancer to interact better with nearby cells, making it easier to spread. The cells were also better at growing in new areas of the body.
One of the most important findings was that these changes helped cancer cells survive in new tissues. This made the cancer more aggressive and harder to stop.
Because of this, the researchers are now working on new treatments to block the way palmitic acid helps cancer spread. They hope to start human trials soon. If these treatments work, they could give patients with spreading cancer new hope.
Still, the scientists say it’s too early to tell people to stop eating foods with palm oil. More studies are needed before doctors can recommend changes in diet. But the results are strong enough to make us think more carefully about what we eat, especially if we’re at risk for cancer.
This study is important not just for treating cancer, but also for thinking about how our food choices affect our health. Palm oil is in many everyday foods, so understanding its risks could help shape new health guidelines in the future.
If you care about cancer, please read studies about common drugs for inflammation may help kill cancer, and statin drugs can starve cancer cells to death.
For more information about cancer, please see recent studies about these two things are key to surviving cancer and results showing common Indian fruit may slow down cancer growth.
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