For Immediate Release: 22 July 1998Contact: David Williamson
rdtokids@email.unc.edu
919-962-8596
University of North Carolina at Chapel HillNew Study Shows Olive Oil Component Does Not Protect Against Breast Cancer
CHAPEL HILL, N.C.--Contrary to earlier reports, oleic acid--the chief fat in olive oil--does not protect women against developing breast cancer, according to a unique new international study.
The study involved analyzing fat samples removed from 642 European women, measuring the oleic acid content and comparing results with whether the women developed breast cancer. A report on the findings appears in the current issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
"The bottom line is that the protective effect of oleic acid that has been suggested in other studies, which did not measure fat directly, but relied instead on reports by the women of what they ate, does not exist," said Dr. Lenore Kohlmeier, the senior author. "It was not protective in four of the five centers in our study. In the other center, in Malaga, Spain, where we did see a possibly protective effect, it likely came from some other component of the oil or because of the traditional Mediterranean diet."
In the Netherlands, women with higher oleic oil consumption showed a slightly increased risk of breast cancer, Kohlmeier said.
"Our conclusion is that if olive oil has some benefit against breast cancer, that effect is not due to oleic acid, but rather to something else we don't know about yet," she said.
Kohlmeier is professor of epidemiology and nutrition at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill schools of public health and medicine. Dr. Neal R. Simonsen, postdoctoral research associate in epidemiology at UNC-CH, was first author. European scientists also participated.
The study took place in Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland and was part of the larger European Community Multicenter Study on Antioxidants, Myocardial Infarction and Breast Cancer. It was unique in that, through the tissue analyses, researchers could tell relatively precisely what the women subjects consumed and, unlike previous studies, did not have to rely on subjects' memories, which often were imperfect.
Two hundred and ninety-one postmenopausal breast cancer patients participated, along with 351 randomly selected control subjects matched by age and residence area.
The scientists found that higher weight, being older at the birth of a first child and a family history of breast cancer showed strong associations to breast cancer among patients. Smoking, drinking and a history of benign breast disease showed small, non-significant associations with breast cancer.
"Based on our findings, we recommend that people not start buying oleic acid-rich oils," said Kohlmeier, a member of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Olive oil is the richest dietary source of oleic acid, but the fatty acid is also a major component of most animal fats and makes up a significant fraction of most vegetable oils, the authors wrote.
"Although many factors--genetic, reproductive and others--have been linked to breast cancer risk, much of the variation in breast cancer risk across countries and culture remains unexplained," they said. "The great geographic variation in breast cancer rates has spurred interest in diet as a potential risk factor, leading to extensive research on fat intake."
Co-authors of the new report were Drs. Joaquin Fernandez-Crehuet Navajas, Jose M. Martin-Moreno, John J. Strain, Jussi K. Huttunen, Blaise C. Martin, Michael Thamm, Alwine F.M. Kardinaal, Pieter van't Veer and Frans J. Kok.
The Commission of European Communities and the U.S. Army supported the research.
Note: Kohlmeier can be reached at 919-966-7450.
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