title: Squalene, olive oil, and cancer risk: a review and hypothesis.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Strang Cancer Research Laboratory, Rockefeller University, New York, New York 10021, USA.
authors.forename: H L
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Newmark
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000201:enzymology / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D000069463:Olive Oil; D010088:Oxidoreductases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000187:drug effects; D010938:Plant Oils / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051381:Rats; D012307:Risk Factors; D013185:Squalene / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; D000069463:Olive Oil; D010938:Plant Oils; D013185:Squalene; D010088:Oxidoreductases