Compound found in olive oil can kill cancer cells in 30 minutes

Olive oil, which is one of the star ingredients in a Mediterranean diet, often hailed as one of the world’s healthiest eating patterns, is already known for its benefits to heart and brain health. But here’s something even more surprising: it may also have powerful anticancer properties! A natural compound found in extra-virgin olive oil has been found to kill cancer cells in just 30 minutes.

A study led by researchers from Rutgers University and Hunter College found that an ingredient in olive oil can potentially fight cancer. The study is published in the journal Molecular & Cellular Oncology in 2015.

Olive oil and its anti-cancer properties

Olive oil contains oleocanthal, a phenolic compound that may be key in targeting cancer cells without harming healthy ones. The study adds to the numerous health benefits of olive oil, including improving the immune system, protecting bones, and even reducing the risk of Alzheimer’s disease.

Meanwhile, the concentration of oleocanthal differs in different varieties of olive oils, due to their origin, harvest time, and processing methods. The researchers tested a variety of olive oils to determine their respective concentrations of oleocanthal, which ranged from very low to very high. They found that olive oils with high oleocanthal content completely killed in vitro cancer cells like purified oleocanthal.

Killing cancer cells

In normal physiological conditions, cells die through a process called apoptosis, a form of programmed cell death. This process usually takes 16 to 24 hours. But when scientists Onica LeGendre, David Foster of Hunter College, and Paul Breslin of Rutgers University applied oleocanthal to cancer cells in the lab, the effect was far more immediate. The compound wiped out cancer cells of multiple types within just 30 minutes to an hour. That led researchers to believe that oleocanthal was working through a different mechanism.
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“We needed to determine if oleocanthal was targeting that protein and causing the cells to die,” Breslin, a professor of nutritional sciences at a university, said in a release.

How it attacks cancer cells

They found that the compound was killing the cancer cells’ waste centers, known as lysosomes, which are larger than healthy cells and also more fragile. “Once you open one of those things, all hell breaks loose,” Breslin added. They noticed that once oleocanthal did its damage, the crucial functions of the cell began to suffer, eventually leading to its death. What was even more surprising was that the healthy cells were unharmed. After oleocanthal “put them to sleep” for a day, they rebounded as if nothing had happened.

"We think oleocanthal could explain reduced [cancer] incidence in Mediterranean diets where consumption is high. And it is also possible that purified (higher-dose) could possibly be used therapeutically," Foster said.

The researchers also added that they want to learn more about why oleocanthal targets and shrinks cancer cells specifically. “We also need to understand why it is that cancerous cells are more sensitive to oleocanthal than non-cancerous cells,” Foster concluded.