Mediterraneans are noted for a lower incidence of heart disease and cancer than Northern Europeans and thier progeny in the United States. this advantage has been long been attributed to their diet which is high in olive oil among other factors. A recent laboratory investigation reported in the journal "Molecular and Cellular Oncology" shows that a compound in olive oil, oleocanthal, ruptures certain cancer cell structures that releases enzymes causing cell death. While oleocanthal was known to kill cancer cells previously, the mechanism was not understood by science. Oleocanthal ruptures lysosomes that store waste products. Lysosomes are larger in cancer cells than in normal ones. When a lysosome ruptures, enzymes are released that cause the cancer cell to die within thirty minutes to an hour. Oleocanthal does not harm normal cells. It stops a normal cell's life cycle temporarily, but a day after exposure normal cells resume their cycle. Why oleocanthal has this desirable selective lethality is not yet known. Hundreds of milions of dollars have been invested by drug companies synthesizing cancer drugs to obtain this characteristic.
Researchers hope to go beyond the petri dish to find if oleocanthal can kill cancer cells in living animals. Olive oil contains more than thirty compounds which have antioxidant and anti-inflamatory effects. These benefits have been seen in population studies of the Mediterranean diet. A Turkish study published in the "European Journal of Clinical Nutrition" concluded that consumption of extra virgin olive oils, which are rich in phenolic antioxidants, squalene and oleic acid, affords considerable protection against colon, breast, and skin cancers as well as coronary disease.