Palm oil is found in many food products as it is a versatile ingredient that the world uses in everything not only in food manufacturing but also in cosmetic products. But a new study in mice shows that palmitic acid contains a substance that promotes the growth of malignant cells.
Researchers claim that long-term consumption of food products that contain palm oil, such as chocolate spreads, can lead to the proliferation of tumors to the mouth, skin, and throughout the body. Their full findings are described in the study, titled "Dietary Palmitic Acid Promotes a Prometastatic Memory via Schwann Cells," which was published in the journal Nature.
Fatty Acids in Palm Oil Promotes Malignancy
Study lead author Salvador Aznar-Pineta, a professor at the Institute for Biomedical Research (IRB) in Barcelona, Spain, said in an interview that palm oil contains the palmitic acid that strongly promotes the spread of malignant tumors.
According to PubChem, palmitine or palmitic acid is a saturated long-chain fatty acid with a 16 carbon backbone. It is naturally found in palm oil, kernel palm oil, butter, cheese, milk, and meat.
On the other hand, the team noted that the linoleic or oleic acid found in olive oil does not promote the formation of metastases. That is why none of the omega-6 and omega-9 fatty acids they tested were found to increase the risk of cancer.
Social Post reported that olive oil appears to differ from palmitine as shown in the IRB study. Researchers used mice models to show that long-term consumption of this fatty acid stimulated the formation of metastases. They observed that cancer cells continue to rapidly spread even though they have only been in contact with palmitic for a short period of time.
This study sheds new light on the link between palm oil to cancer, that even the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the World Health Organization have declared this vegetable oil as carcinogenic. More so, it opens doors to therapies that prevent the spread of tumors to other body parts.
Despite the findings, researchers pointed out that neither palm oil nor olive oil increases the risk of developing cancer. They noted that they are not focusing on which diet is bad or good, but rather on what therapeutic techniques will be able to prevent tumor growth.
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How Does Palmitic Acid Affect Cells?
According to the news outlet KRQE, fatty acids are the building blocks of fat in the body. Studies have shown that fatty acid molecules appear to nourish tumors although scientists are unclear how. But the IRB study has revealed that the mice fed with palm oil-rich diet have affected their genome.
Researchers explained that cancer cells exposed to palmitic acid for a short period have triggered tumors to spread quickly even after the team removed the mice from their experimental diets because it has created a genetic memory as a result of epigenetic changes in the function of the genes.
These changes altered the function of metastatic cells, which allowed them to quickly spread as it forms a neural network around the tumor. The team said that these findings have led them to the discovery of blocking this communication through developing antibodies that stop metastasis in a range of cancers.
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