cooking oil
cooking oil
A dietary fat found in everyday foods from french fries to salad dressings may specifically drive the growth of the most difficult-to-treat form of breast cancer, according to groundbreaking research published last week in Science.
Researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine discovered that linoleic acid—an omega-6 fatty acid abundant in seed oils like soybean and safflower oil—accelerates the growth of aggressive “triple-negative” breast cancer by activating a crucial cellular growth pathway.
This finding potentially explains why decades of studies examining links between dietary fats and cancer have yielded conflicting results. The mechanism appears to be cancer-subtype specific rather than universal.
“This discovery helps clarify the relationship between dietary fats and cancer, and sheds light on how to define which patients might benefit the most from specific nutritional recommendations in a personalized manner,” said study senior author Dr. John Blenis, the Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Professor of Cancer Research at Weill Cornell Medicine.
Triple-negative breast cancer, which affects approximately 15% of breast cancer patients, lacks the three molecular receptors that common treatments target, making it particularly challenging to treat effectively.
The researchers found that linoleic acid activates a major growth pathway called mTORC1, but only in triple-negative breast cancers. This occurs because these cancers produce high levels of a protein called FABP5, which binds to linoleic acid and triggers the growth mechanism.
In mouse models with triple-negative breast cancer, animals fed diets high in linoleic acid showed increased tumor growth. The team also discovered elevated levels of both FABP5 and linoleic acid in blood samples from newly diagnosed triple-negative breast cancer patients.
The findings may have particular relevance to modern Western diets. Linoleic acid consumption has risen dramatically since the 1950s with the increased use of seed oils in fried and ultra-processed foods. This dietary shift parallels rising rates of certain cancers, though no causal mechanism had previously been established.
“There may be a broader role for FABP5-mTORC1 signaling in other cancer types and even in common chronic diseases such as obesity and diabetes,” noted Dr. Nikos Koundouros, the study’s first author and a postdoctoral research associate in the Blenis laboratory.
While the research doesn’t suggest that everyone should eliminate linoleic acid from their diet—it’s an essential nutrient required for multiple bodily processes—it does point toward more personalized nutritional guidance for cancer patients. The study suggests that FABP5 could serve as a biomarker to identify which patients might benefit most from reducing their intake of foods high in omega-6 fatty acids.
The research team has already found evidence that the same mechanism may enhance growth in certain prostate cancer subtypes, suggesting broader implications beyond breast cancer.
This study marks what researchers believe is the first clear demonstration of a specific biological mechanism connecting this common dietary ingredient to cancer progression, potentially opening doors to new treatment strategies targeting the FABP5-mTORC1 pathway.
For patients with triple-negative breast cancer, which currently lacks targeted therapies, these findings could eventually lead to both dietary interventions and pharmaceutical approaches that disrupt this newly discovered growth mechanism.
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