Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention, Vol 6, Issue 12 1101-1103, Copyright © 1997 by American Association for Cancer Research

ARTICLES

Squalene, olive oil, and cancer risk: a review and hypothesis

HL Newmark
Strang Cancer Research Laboratory, Rockefeller University, New York, New York 10021, USA.

Epidemiological studies of breast and pancreatic cancer in several Mediterranean populations have demonstrated that increased dietary intake of olive oil is associated with a small decreased risk or no increased risk of cancer, despite a higher proportion of overall lipid intake. Experimental animal model studies of high dietary fat and cancer also indicate that olive oil has either no effect or a protective effect on the prevention of a variety of chemically induced tumors. As a working hypothesis, it is proposed that the high squalene content of olive oil, as compared to other human foods, is a major factor in the cancer risk-reducing effect of olive oil. Experiments in vitro and in animal models suggest a tumor-inhibiting role for squalene. A mechanism is proposed for the tumor-inhibitory activity of squalene based on its known strong inhibitory activity of beta-hydroxy-beta-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase catalytic activity in vivo, thus reducing farnesyl pyrophosphate availability for prenylation of the ras oncogene, which relocates this oncogene to cell membranes and is required for the signal-transducing function of ras.

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