Olive oil helps battle breast cancer

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BARCELONA, Spain, Feb. 6 (UPI) -- Scientists in Spain confirm the polyphenols in extra virgin olive oil help to combat breast cancer.

Javier A. Menendez, of the Catalonian Institute of Oncology, in collaboration with Alberto Fernandez Gutierrez, and Antonio Segura Carretero, of the University of Granada confirmed the bioactivity of polyphenols -- natural anti-oxidants -- present in olive oil helps combat breast cancer cell lines.

The study, published in the journal BMC Cancer, confirms the potentiality of polyphenols to inhibit HER2 breast cancer activity and to promote its degradation.

The results, together with the fact that humans have consumed secoiridoids and lignans safely for a long time through oil and olive oil consumption, endorse the fact that such phytochemicals could be an excellent and safe basis for the design of new anti-HER2 compounds, the researchers said.