HER2 and Evening Primrose Oil

11-05-2007, 07:26 AM

I received this with my Google Alerts this morning, and went looking for the jar of Evening Primrose Oil that I dipped into a few times and then neglected.

Gamma-linolenic acid (GLA), a substance in evening primrose oil and several other plant oils used in herbal medicine, inhibits action of Her-2/neu, a cancer gene that is responsible for almost 30 percent of all breast cancers, Northwestern University researchers report.

“Breast cancer patients with Her-2/neu-positive tumors have an aggressive form of the disease and a poor prognosis,” said Ruth Lupu, director of Evanston Northwestern Healthcare Breast Cancer Translational Research Program, who led the study, published in the Nov. 2 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Lupu is professor of medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a researcher at The Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University.

Lupu and co-investigator Javier Menendez showed that treating cancer cells that overexpressed Her-2/neu with GLA not only suppressed protein levels of the oncogene, but also caused a 30- to 40-fold increased response in breast cancer cells to the drug Herpetin (trastuzumab), a monoclonal antibody that is used for the treatment of many women with breast cancer.

Menendez is research assistant professor of medicine at Feinberg and a scientist at Evanston Northwestern Healthcare Research Institute.

“In our tests, treating the cancer cell lines with both GLA and Herceptin led to a synergistic increase in apoptosis [cell death] and reduced cancer growth. Therefore, although further studies are necessary before GLA can enter clinical trials, these findings may reveal a previously unrecognized way of influencing the poor outcome of Her-2/neu-positive cancer patients,” Lupu said. “GLA’s inhibition of Her-2/neu works in a different manner from that of Herceptin,” Menendez said.

“While Herceptin attempts to neutralize thousands of Her-2/neu molecules commonly found in the surface of overexpressing cancer cells, GLA would be more efficient to reduce Her-2/neu levels by preventing the transcription of few Her-2/neu gene copies,” Menendez said. “Considering that activation and overexpression of the Her-2/neu oncogene are crucial events in the cause, progression and cell sensitivity to various treatments in breast cancer, results of the study showed reveal a valuable means by which an inexpensive herbal medicine might regulate might regulate breast cancer cell growth, metastasis formation and response to chemotherapies and endocrine therapies,” Lupu said.

GLA exerts selective toxic effects on cancer cells without affecting normal cells. Menendez’s earlier research showed that supplementation with GLA sensitizes breast cancer cells to some chemotherapeutic drugs, such as paclitaxel (Taxol), docetaxel (Taxotere) and vinorelbine (Navelbine). Lupu and Menendez recently demonstrated that GLA also enhances the efficacy of anti-estrogens, such as tamoxifen and Faslodex.

“Since overexpression of Her-2/neu generally confers resistance to chemo- and endocrine therapies, our current findings can explain why GLA increases the efficacy of breast cancer treatments,” Menendez said.
GLA is one of two essential fatty acids - fats that are necessary for maintaining normal functioning and growth of cells, nerves, muscles and organs. Besides evening primrose oil, other sources of GLAs include borage oil and black current seed oil.

Besides Menendez, other authors on the study were Luciano Vellon, Evanston Northwestern Healthcare Research Institute; and Ramon Colomer, head of the medical oncology division at the Institut Catala d’Oncologia, Girona, Spain.

mimiflower07 · 11-05-2007, 08:16 AM

hi grace, i am new to this board but have been posting a fair amt lately. also read about eveprimrose. I take this with a few others but alway wonder how much to take and will they cause problems when i start chemo. I take even primrose, tumeric, flax seed, grape seed, vit c&d, fish oil and a ton of green tea. Never have i taken so much stuff but feel what can i gain?
thanks for that notice
suzanne

RhondaH · 11-05-2007, 08:17 AM

http://her2support.org/vbulletin/sea...earchid=160569

Rhonda

StephN · 11-05-2007, 10:22 AM

Yes, Rhonda , we have had mentions of this effect of evening primrose oil on this site before.

Your link is not working for me.
Here is another:

http://her2support.org/vbulletin/sea...earchid=160643

Senorina · 11-05-2007, 10:48 AM

Oh, my goodness. I had not heard of Evening Primrose Oil and Her2. This is wonderful. As it is, I've been taking Flax Seed Oil with high lignans to help with estrogen balance (instead of Tamoxifen). Thank You!!!!!!!!

Andrea Barnett Budin · 11-05-2007, 02:51 PM

So interesting. Neither of the above links worked for me. HOWEVER, because of my 23 yrs of hot flashing I have long been on Evening Primrose Oil. Always feeling a tad bit of fear but desperate. Now -- look at that. My supplements list is in my GAINING CONTROL thread below if you want to check it out. Never WAS a pill taker but met bc changed my life in lots of ways.

Andi

hutchibk · 11-05-2007, 05:00 PM

Good info to know. What do you smarties know about whether it might have an interferring action with any chemos? I already take my tablespoons of olive oil everyday to inhibit the Her2. If I can take Evening Primrose, I will!

11-05-2007, 05:12 PM

Can't say about chemo interference, but I noticed that one of the researchers (from U. of Girona in Spain) is the same researcher that's been doing work on Olive Oil/Leaf and its benefit to those with HER2. I must get back to taking those supplements!

hutchibk · 11-05-2007, 05:13 PM

Wow Grace, you are on top of this! Thanks for keeping us informed... yes, drink your EVOO!

PinkGirl · 11-05-2007, 06:37 PM

I think I understood what I read. GLA isn't the same thing as Evening Primrose, it is one of the things in it. The links also didn't work for me.
Does anyone know how much we are supposed to take? Is GLA a supplement by itself or do you have to get it in the Evening Primrose?

RhondaH · 11-05-2007, 07:48 PM

if you go the the yellow "search" bar and type in Evening Primrose Oil, we have had other discussions (I miss those VERY thought provoking discussions w/ Lisa, Sandy, Gina (still around, just busy) and Al).

Rhonda

Mary Jo · 11-05-2007, 08:02 PM

I, too, would like to know how much evening primrose to take. And, ohhhhhhhhh, how I wish I could "drink" the EVOO but I just can't do it. I tried taking a Tablespoon of it one morning and thought I'd vomit. Ewwwwww.

Mary Jo

TSund · 11-05-2007, 09:49 PM

Hm...one of the Fish oil's Ruth and I are taking has 152 mg of GLA as well as the others. (ALA, DHA, EPA). I also think Udo's oil that we throw into protein shakes has some Evening Primrose Oil in it, but I can't check the bottle as we are out!

I wonder if taking the oils helped her chemo/Herceptin... I like to think so.

TRS

R.B. · 11-06-2007, 03:12 AM

Complicated as usual.

I posted a response to this and must have forgotten to hit the post button.

I went and found what I think was the trial. It was in the lab on cells and using pure GLA and not Borage or Evening Primrose etc.

Long chain fats you eat have to get through the gut into the lymphatic system, into the blood supply and past all the other processes that might want them.

So digestion is very important.

GLA is a child of the mother omega six LA linolenic acid. The body can make GLA from LA. That is assuming your conversion pathways are not blocked.

IF your conversion pathways are blocked you likely will not be making the other long chain fats either - that includes the omega threes EPA and DHA. Some do have severe conversion problems. Many have reduced conversion - Sugar, excess omega six etc., and some mineral deficiencies block conversion.

Also GLA comes with lots of omega six, some less than others -Borage and Blackcurrant have a better GLA to LA ratio than evening primrose - check the labels.

GLA works thorough gene expression and via DGLA and COX1 enzymes which produce less inflammatory chemicals than COX2. COX1 products are necessary to all sort of functions stomach maintenance etc.

GLA is converted into DGLA which is the basis of the COX1 pathways BUT DGLA is also converted into AA which is the basis of the COX2 pathway. (see Greek Diet post and COX2 posts).

So moderation and caution is required, and you need to consider your GLA supplement, and its omega six content as part of your intake in balancing the omega threes and sixes. GLA is made in normal circumstances from LA, but there may be benifits for those who cant make it / dont make enough.

There may well be other benefits from cold pressed oils as fats in plants come with antioxidants to protect them.

IF it were a choice between a GLA oil and fish oil I would go for fish oil every time - for me you should worry about your omega three six balance and ensuring a supple of the long chain omega threes as a priority, and then think about maybe adding a little GLA within your omega six intake.

As usual please mention dietary change and supplements to your medical advisor.

RB

Christine MH-UK · 11-06-2007, 05:21 AM

The difficulty with evening primrose oil is that it also has a fairly high amount of Linoleic Acid (which reduced herceptin sensitivity in test tube experiments on cells), so starflower oil (oil of the borage flowers), which contains alot more GLA and less LA, is probably a better bet.

mimiflower07 · 11-06-2007, 06:15 AM

so brenda you actually drink one tblsp of evoo? and borage better than epr..in some cases...ok I'm on it
suzanne

Senorina · 11-06-2007, 09:09 AM

I've been taking Barlean's Organic Flax Seed Oil (Highest Lignan), which has all three Omegas (3, 6, and 9). I've been doing this to help supress/bind estrogen. Will this also do the trick for suppressing Her2 since it has all the Omegas?

Thank you so much for your help.
You can find it on www.barleans.com

RhondaH · 11-06-2007, 10:17 AM

I TOO drink a TBS of Olive Oil every day...once your used to it, it's fine.

Rhonda

PinkGirl · 11-06-2007, 10:41 AM

Rhonda, does olive oil "go bad"? I keep some of my regular
cooking oils in the refrigerator, but someone told me that
olive oil gels if you refrigerate it. Do you keep it at room
temperature and for how long? Hmmm.. you probably use it up so
fast it doesn't matter.

11-06-2007, 02:32 PM

You don't want to keep olive oil in the refrigerator, and it can go rancid like any other oil when kept out for too long. It's best when kept in dark; after it loses its green color you should consider buying a new bottle. Generally, people who use lots of olive oil, which is great for you in so many ways, go through a bottle every two weeks, so it never gets a chance to go bad. My favorite recipe for olive oil (oil should be the best you can buy), is to toast bread, such as a peasant bread, rub with cut garlic clove (Spanish touch), pierce the bread with a fork, and spread olive oil on top and eat. This is served in many Italian restaurants as a appetizer and if the oil is particularly good, it may be one of the more expensive appetizers on the menu. Just thinking of it has me salivating.

Another wonderful way to use olive oil is to put a teaspoon or more on top of soup. And, of course, use it on salads. My husband only uses olive oil as a dressing, not even a touch of vinegar.