Mediterranean Diet and Cancer Prevention

The antioxidant/anticancer potential of phenolic compounds isolated from olive oil
Owen RW, Giacosa A, Hull WE, Haubner R, Spiegelhalder B, Bartsch H.
Eur J Cancer. 2000 Jun;36(10):1235-47

In our ongoing studies on the chemoprevention of cancer we have a particular interest in the health benefits of the Mediterranean diet, of which olive oil is a major component. Recent studies have shown that extravirgin olive oil contains an abundance of phenolic antioxidants including simple phenols (hydroxytyrosol, tyrosol), aldehydic secoiridoids, flavonoids and lignans (acetoxypinoresinol, pinoresinol). All of these phenolic substances are potent inhibitors of reactive oxygen species attack on, e.g. salicylic acid, 2-deoxyguanosine. Currently there is growing evidence that reactive oxygen species are involved in the aetiology of fat-related neoplasms such as cancer of the breast and colorectum.