Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 7, 2025

In Vivo and Ex Vivo Approaches to Study Ovarian Cancer Metastatic Colonization of Milky Spot Structures in Peritoneal Adipose
Published on: October 14, 2015
Olive oil intake and cancer risk: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Christos Markellos1, Maria-Eleni Ourailidou1, Maria Gavriatopoulou1
1Department of Clinical Therapeutics, "Alexandra" Hospital, School of Medicine, University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
Background:
Research evidence has established the beneficial effects of diet in cancer prevention; various epidemiological studies have suggested that olive oil component could play a role in decreasing cancer risk. This systematic review and meta-analysis aims to investigate the association between olive oil consumption, cancer risk and prognosis.
Methods:
A systematic search was conducted in PubMed, EMBASE and Google Scholar databases (end-of-search: May 10, 2020). Pooled relative risk (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were estimated with random-effects (DerSimonian-Laird) models. Subgroup analyses, sensitivity analyses and meta-regression analysis were also performed.
Results:
45 studies were included in the meta-analysis; 37 were case-control (17,369 cases and 28,294 controls) and 8 were cohort studies (12,461 incident cases in a total cohort of 929,771 subjects). Highest olive oil consumption was associated with 31% lower likelihood of any cancer (pooled RR = 0.69, 95%CI: 0.62-0.77), breast (RR = 0.67, 95%CI: 0.52-0.86), gastrointestinal (RR = 0.77, 95%CI: 0.66-0.89), upper aerodigestive (RR = 0.74, 95%CI: 0.60-0.91) and urinary tract cancer (RR = 0.46, 95%CI: 0.29-0.72). Significant overall effects spanned both Mediterranean and non-Mediterranean participants, studies presenting a multivariate and a univariate analysis and all subgroups by study quality.
Conclusions:
Olive oil consumption seems to exert beneficial actions in terms of cancer prevention. Additional prospective cohort studies on various cancer types and survivors, as well as large randomized trials, seem desirable.
More Related Videos
04:53A Clinical Trial Assessing the Safety, Efficacy, and Delivery of Olive-Oil-Based Three-Chamber Bags for Parenteral Nutrition
Published on: September 20, 2019
05:42Author Spotlight: Advanced Ex Vivo Model for Investigating Cancer-Adipose Microenvironment Interaction
Published on: January 26, 2024
Related Concept Videos
Cancer Prevention
Some...
Cancer Survival Analysis
Psychoneuroimmunology: Diabetes and Cancer
Types of Biopharmaceutical Studies: Controlled and Non-Controlled Approaches
Non-controlled studies, commonly employed for initial exploration, lack a control group, rendering them susceptible to biases and external influences. In contrast,...
Cancer
Bias in Epidemiological Studies