Nikhil Prasad Fact checked by:Thailand Medical News Team Aug 12, 2026 47 minutes ago
A naturally occurring compound found in extra-virgin olive oil has produced striking results against an aggressive form of colorectal cancer in laboratory mice, sharply reducing primary tumors and preventing much of the cancer from spreading to other organs.
Olive oil compound oleocanthal dramatically reduced KRAS-mutant colorectal tumors and metastatic spread in experimental
mice
The phytochemical compound, S-(−)-oleocanthal (OC), is a phenolic substance responsible for some of the characteristic pungency of high-quality extra-virgin olive oil. Researchers investigated whether oral oleocanthal could control colorectal cancer carrying the KRASG13D mutation, a molecular change for which effective targeted treatment options remain limited.
The researchers were Md Towhidul Islam Tarun and Khalid A. El Sayed from the School of Basic Pharmaceutical and Toxicological Sciences, College of Pharmacy, University of Louisiana at Monroe, and Hassan Y. Ebrahim from the Department of Biomedical Sciences, Discipline of Pharmacology, Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine, in Monroe, Louisiana.
Oral Oleocanthal Produces Major Tumor Reductions
The researchers implanted human HCT-116 colorectal cancer cells carrying the KRASG13D mutation into the cecum, part of the large intestine, of male and female nude mice. This approach was designed to more closely reproduce the environment in which colorectal tumors actually develop.
Daily oral treatment with 10 milligrams of oleocanthal per kilogram of body weight produced particularly strong effects. In male mice, total primary tumor weight fell from 7,404.5 milligrams in controls to only 178.4 milligrams with oral oleocanthal—a 97.6 percent reduction.
Results were even stronger among females. Tumor weight dropped from 6,540.1 milligrams in controls to just 62.6 milligrams, representing a 99.1 percent reduction.
Importantly, oral treatment was substantially more effective than injecting oleocanthal into the abdominal cavity three times weekly. The injected treatment reduced tumor weight by 64.5 percent in males and 69.9 percent in females.
Cancer Spread Was Also Dramatically Reduced
Oleocanthal did more than reduce primary tumors. Researchers examined the liver, intestine, spleen, kidneys, bones, brain, lungs and heart for metastatic cancer.
Control animals showed extensive cancer spread. Oral oleocanthal greatly reduced this dissemination. Female mice receiving oral oleocanthal had no detected metastases in the liver, spleen, kidneys, bones, brain, lungs or heart, although intestinal involvement remained in some animals.
The researchers also found that oleocanthal suppressed SMYD2 and EZH2, two proteins associated with cancer-promoting activity. Oral treatment produced the strongest suppression, including an approximately 88 percent reduction of EZH2 in males and 86 percent in females.
Gut Bacteria May Be a Crucial Part of the Effect
One of the most intriguing findings involved the gut microbiome—the enormous community of microorganisms living inside the digestive system.
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When researchers depleted gut microbes with broad-spectrum antibiotics, some of oleocanthal's anticancer effectiveness weakened. This suggested that its effects were not simply caused by the compound directly attacking tumors.
To investigate further, this Thailand
Medical News report notes that researchers transplanted fecal microbiota from healthy mice receiving high-dose oleocanthal into cancer-bearing mice whose gut bacteria had first been depleted.
The results were remarkable. In males, tumor weight fell from 9,252.2 milligrams in fecal-transplant controls to 48.5 milligrams—a 99.5 percent reduction. In females, tumor weight dropped from 6,594.8 to 38.4 milligrams, a 99.4 percent reduction.
Cancer spread was also almost completely suppressed. Male recipients had only one detected kidney metastasis among six animals, while female recipients showed only limited intestinal and spleen involvement.
Conclusions
The findings suggest that orally administered oleocanthal may fight KRASG13D-mutant colorectal cancer through more than one mechanism, including direct suppression of cancer-related molecular pathways and beneficial changes to gut microorganisms. Particularly striking was the ability of microbiota from oleocanthal-treated animals to reproduce powerful anticancer effects. However, these experiments were conducted in mice using transplanted human cancer cells, not in patients. Human clinical trials will therefore be essential before oleocanthal or oleocanthal-modified microbiota can be considered treatments for colorectal cancer.
The study findings were published in the peer reviewed journal: Nutrients.
https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/18/16/2623
Read Also:
https://www.thailandmedical.news/articles/herbs-and-phytochemicals
https://www.thailandmedical.news/articles/cancer
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