Scientists at IRB Barcelona have discovered a worrying link between a type of fat called palmitic acid, which is found in palm oil, and the spread of certain cancers.
Their research, led by Professor Salvador Aznar-Benitah and published in Nature, suggests that palmitic acid can make cancers like oral cancer and melanoma spread more easily.
This process, known as metastasis, is when cancer moves from one part of the body to another and is the main reason cancer becomes life-threatening.
Metastasis is very hard to stop once it starts. Although treatments can sometimes slow it down, curing metastatic cancer remains a huge challenge. This study sheds light on how something as everyday as diet might play a role in cancer spreading.
Fats, or fatty acids, are a natural and important part of our bodies and the foods we eat. However, not all fats behave the same way.
The researchers discovered that while palmitic acid fuels the spread of cancer, other fats like oleic acid and linoleic acid, found in healthy foods such as olive oil and flaxseeds, did not cause the same problem.
What makes palmitic acid especially troubling is that it doesn’t just help cancer spread while it’s in the diet. It seems to leave a lasting “memory” in the cancer cells.
This memory happens because palmitic acid causes changes in how the genes in cancer cells work, even without changing the genes themselves.
These changes, called epigenetic modifications, make the cancer cells stay aggressive and able to spread, even after palmitic acid is no longer in the diet.
The researchers tested this using mice and added palmitic acid to their diets. They saw that the cancer cells became better at spreading to other parts of the body. Palmitic acid also seemed to reprogram the cancer cells, helping them build a network of nerves around the tumor.
This nerve network allowed the cancer cells to communicate more effectively with their surroundings, making it easier for them to move to and survive in new locations in the body.
One striking finding was how these changes allowed the cancer cells to adapt to new tissues. This made the cancer more aggressive and harder to treat. Based on this discovery, the researchers are now working on treatments to block the effects of palmitic acid on cancer.
They plan to test these therapies in clinical trials to see if they can prevent or slow down metastasis in different types of cancer. If these treatments work, they could provide new hope for people with cancers that are likely to spread.
For now, though, the scientists caution that it’s too early to make specific recommendations about diet for cancer patients. While it might seem like avoiding foods with palmitic acid is a good idea, more research is needed to confirm whether this approach would be effective.
This research also raises important questions about how diet impacts cancer risk and progression. Palm oil is a common ingredient in many processed foods, so these findings might eventually lead to changes in dietary guidelines, particularly for people at higher risk of cancer.
In summary, this study shows how a common fat in palm oil could help cancer become more dangerous.
It highlights the need for more research into how diet influences cancer and suggests that dietary factors could one day be part of a broader strategy to treat or even prevent cancer. For now, it’s a reminder that what we eat may play a bigger role in our health than we realize.
For more information about cancer, please see recent studies that plant-based diets may reduce risk of colorectal cancer in men, and Low-fat diet may help stop cancer growth.
For more information about cancer, please see recent studies about How to harness the power of anti-cancer foods and supplements and results showing that Empower your plate: cancer-fighting foods and recipes.
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