Olive oil is chemopreventive

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) triggers crucial signalling processes that regulate tumor angiogenesis and, therefore, represents an attractive target for the development of novel anticancer therapeutics. Tyrosol (Tyr), hydroxytyrosol (HT), taxifolin (Tax), oleuropein (OL) and oleic acid (OA), five compounds found in extra virgin olive oil. A recent study by Lamy et al (Dec 2013 ) demonstrated that HT, Tax and OA are novel and potent inhibitors of the VEGFR-2 signaling pathway. These findings emphasize the chemopreventive properties of olive oil and highlight the importance of nutrition in cancer prevention