Vidcast: https://www.instagram.com/p/DZ13S0eOGtH/

Some of the fats we eat nourish cancer while others help our immune systems kill it. Oncologists at the Yale School of Medicine report in the American Association For Cancer Research journal that, for pancreatic cancer in a mouse model, the fat in olive oil accelerates cancer growth while fish oils slow that growth.

Mice fed diets rich in oleic acid develop pancreatic tumors faster than mice on other diets. This was unexpected because oleic acid has long been considered heart-healthy and is commonly found in olive oil, peanuts, lard, and certain sunflower and safflower oils.

On the other hand, omega-3 fats found in fish oil had the opposite effect. Mice fed fish-oil-enriched diets experience about a 50 percent reduction in disease compared with mice eating a standard-fat diet. The researchers find that omega-3 fats make cancer cells more vulnerable to a natural self-destruct process called ferroptosis. Monounsaturated fats like oleic acid appeared to protect cancer cells from that process.

The team also finds that higher ratios of monounsaturated fats to polyunsaturated fats are linked to greater pancreatic cancer burden, while lower ratios are associated with less cancer development. A side note: the tumor-promoting effects of oleic acid are much stronger in male mice than in female mice.

This study was conducted in mice, not humans, and more research is needed before any dietary recommendations can be made. However, the findings may eventually help people at higher risk for pancreatic cancer understand how specific dietary fats influence disease development and progression.

The references for this report are available on my website.

#PancreaticCancer #CancerResearch #YaleMedicine #Omega3 #HealthNews