Dietary fat found in daily foods from fries to salad dressings may promote the growth of the most difficult forms of breast cancer, according to groundbreaking research published last week in science.
Weill Cornell Medicine researchers have found that omega-6 fatty acids (Omega-6 fatty acids) rich in seed oils such as soy and safflower oil can enable the growth of aggressive “three-layer negative” breast cancer by activating critical cell growth pathways.
This finding may explain why decades of research have studied the link between dietary fat and cancer have produced conflicting results. The mechanism appears to be cancer-specific, not universal.
“This finding helps to shed light on the relationship between dietary fat and cancer and shed light on how to define in a personalized way which patients benefit the most from specific nutritional recommendations,” said study senior author John Blenis, PhD, Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen, PhD, and senior author of the study at Weill Cornell Medicine.
Triple-negative breast cancer affecting about 15% of breast cancer patients lacks the three molecular receptors targeted by co-treatment, so effective treatment is particularly challenging.
The researchers found that linoleic acid activates a major growth pathway called MTORC1, but is only in triple-negative breast cancer. This happens because these cancers produce high levels of the protein Fabp5, which binds to linoleic acid and triggers the growth mechanism.
In mouse models with triple-negative breast cancer, animals fed a diet with high linoleic acid showed increased tumor growth. The team also found elevated levels of Fabp5 and linoleic acid in blood samples from newly diagnosed patients with triple-negative breast cancer.
These findings may be particularly relevant to modern Western diets. Linoleic acid consumption has risen sharply since the 1950s, with the use of seed oil in fried and superprocessed foods increasing. Although no causal mechanism has been established before, the rate of this dietary transfer continues to increase.
The first author of the study and a postdoctoral research assistant in Blanice’s laboratory, Fabp5-MTORC1 signaling may have a broader role in other cancer types, even in common chronic diseases. ”
Although this study does not recommend that everyone should eliminate linoleic acid from their diet, an essential nutrient required for multiple body processes, it does point to more personalized nutritional guidance for cancer patients. The study shows that FABP5 can act as a biomarker to determine which patients may benefit the most from lowering omega 6 fatty acids in the middle and high foods.
The team has found evidence that the same mechanism can enhance the growth of certain prostate cancer subtypes, suggesting a wider impact beyond breast cancer.
The study marks the first time researchers believe that a clear demonstration of a specific biological mechanism that combines this common dietary ingredient with cancer progression, which could be an open door to new therapeutic strategies targeting the FabP5-MTORC1 pathway.
For patients with triple-negative breast cancer who currently lack targeted therapies, these findings may ultimately lead to dietary interventions and pharmacological approaches that undermine this newly discovered growth mechanism.
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