safflower oil

Safflower oil is not recommended for breast cancer

Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) oil is a polyunsaturated edible seed oil consisting primarily (76%-82%) of the monounsaturated omega-6 fatty acid, linoleic acid. Safflower oil has been shown to have pro-inflammatory properties. Linoleic acid has been shown to enhance the invasion and peritoneal metastasis of gastric carcinoma cells.

Breast cancer-related effects of consuming safflower oil

Safflower oil has the highest proportion of linoleic acid of all common cooking oils. In addition to in vitro studies, numerous experiments using either carcinogen-induced tumors or transplanted mammary tumors in mice have demonstrated that linoleic acid promotes mammary tumor development. Generally speaking, this effect has not been verified by human studies. However, one 2008 study found that women with a specific genotype (ALOX5AP −4900 A>G polymorphism) who consumed a significant amount of linoleic acid in their diets had an increased risk of breast cancer. Another study found increased breast cancer risk among women cooking primarily with high linoleic acid vegetable or corn oil compared to women using olive or canola oil.

Women with breast cancer have been found to have higher levels of omega-6 in their breast tissue than similar women without breast cancer. Several studies have found that higher omega-3/omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acid ratios are associated with reduced risk of breast cancer. Consuming safflower oil would tend to decrease the ratio for most women because of its high omega-6 content.

Additional comments

Note that while we are continually searching for new evidence specifically concerning this food, there is not much interest in it among breast cancer researchers, so few studies are available.

Tags: PAHs, inflammation, linoleicAcid, olive, omega6, polyunsaturatedFat, safflowerOil

Selected breast cancer studies
+ Show study summaries

Mammary Gland Density Predicts the Cancer Inhibitory Activity of the N-3 to N-6 Ratio of Dietary Fat Dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids and breast cancer risk in Chinese women: A prospective cohort study 5-Lipoxygenase and 5-Lipoxygenase-Activating Protein Gene Polymorphisms, Dietary Linoleic Acid, and Risk for Breast Cancer Dietary intakes of ω-6 and ω-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and the risk of breast cancer Dietary fat, cooking fat, and breast cancer risk in a multiethnic population Opposing effects of dietary n-3 and n-6 fatty acids on mammary carcinogenesis: The Singapore Chinese Health Study Dietary (n-3)/(n-6) Fatty Acid Ratio: Possible Relationship to Premenopausal but Not Postmenopausal Breast Cancer Risk in U.S. Women Long-chain n-3-to-n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acid ratios in breast adipose tissue from women with and without breast cancer Effect of dietary perilla oil, soybean oil and safflower oil on 7,12-dimethylbenzanthracene (DMBA) and 1,2-dimethylhydrazine (DMH)-induced mammary gland and colon carcinogenesis in female SD rats



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