Fatty Acid In Palm Oil Linked To Cancer Metastasis Among Mice

A new study published in the journal Nature has found that a key fatty acid found in palm oil can promote cancer metastasis among mice.

Photo Insert: In the cancer cells exposed to palmitic oil, the researchers discovered notable epigenetic changes in the cells.

The research, which does not claim dietary palm oil has cancer-causing properties for humans, could lead to new therapies that block cancer spread in the future, Rich Haridy reported for New Atlas.

Palmitic acid is a major component of palm oil. This saturated fatty acid is also found in various quantities in dairy products and meat. Studies have linked consumption of palmitic acid in palm oil to increased levels of bad cholesterol associated with cardiovascular disease.

A foundational 2017 study found certain fatty acids, palmitic acid, in particular, can initiate metastasis in cancer cells. Now the same research team has followed up that earlier study with further work investigating exactly how the process plays out using a variety of animal experiments.

“In 2017, we published a study indicating that palmitic acid correlates with increased risk of metastasis, but we didn’t know the mechanism responsible for this,” explains Salvador Aznar-Benitah, lead scientist on the new research IN Barcelona.

“In this study, we detail the process and reveal the involvement of a metastatic capacity “memory” factor and we point to a therapeutic approach to reverse it. This is promising.”

Across several experiments with mice the new study found palmitic acid significantly increased the capacity for tumor cells to metastasize. This metastatic activity was detected when the animals were fed palmitic acid, but also when tumor cells exposed to palmitic acid were transplanted into animals fed a normal diet.

Further homing in on this unusual metastatic “memory” in the cancer cells exposed to palmitic oil, the researchers discovered notable epigenetic changes in the cells.

These epigenetic changes triggered by exposure to palmitic oil offered the researchers clues to ways future therapeutics could inhibit this metastatic mechanism.

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