Olive oil drug ‘puts brakes on’ spread of brain cancer
OLIVE oil has long been linked to health benefits ranging from lowering cholesterol to reducing the risk of Alzheimer’s – and now it has been found to help patients with the most common form of deadly brain cancer.
A trial of a drug derived from oleic acid – which naturally occurs in olive oil – has been found to stall the progress of glioblastoma. Of the 290 malignant brain tumours diagnosed annually in Ireland, about 70% are glioblastoma.
The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust and the UK’s Institute of Cancer Research enrolled 54 patients with recurrent glioblastoma and other solid tumours. Of the 21 patients with glioblastoma given the treatment, 24% responded well to the drug – known as 2-OHOA – with one patient experiencing ‘an exceptional response’ which lasted for more than three years.
According to the findings, published in the British Journal of Cancer, the new drug ‘puts the brakes’ on abnormal growth signals in cells which drive the cancer’s progression. The abnormal membranes of cancer cells make it easier for proteins within each cell to meet neighbouring proteins and create signals, which drive the disease’s growth.
Given in a sachet with water and taken three times a day, the drug – known as 2OHOA – blocks these signals by making the membranes of cancerous cells act like normal cells. As a result, it ‘puts the brakes’ on the abnormal growth signals.
Dr Juanita Lopez, consultant medical oncologist at the Royal Marsden, said: ‘Glioblastoma is an incredibly difficult disease to treat and patients with advanced disease have very poor outcomes, often living for just a year after their diagnosis.
‘There hasn’t been an effective new treatment for this patient group in nearly two decades, so drug development urgently needs to be accelerated.
‘Unfortunately, patients with brain cancer often don’t have the opportunity to participate in early phase trials.
‘This underpins the vital importance of research into novel new drugs like 2OHOA.’ Dr Lopez added that ‘we’re very much looking forward to results from ongoing trials’.