Hope for patients with the same brain cancer that killed The Wanted star Tom Parker as study shows olive oil-based drugs may slow progression

It has already been linked to a range of health benefits, from lowering cholesterol to reducing the risk of Alzheimer’s disease.

But now the medicinal benefits of olive oil have been found to help patients with the most common form of deadly brain cancer.

A trial of a drug derived from oleic acid – which occurs naturally in olive oil – appears to slow the progression of glioblastoma.

The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust and the Institute of Cancer Research have enrolled 54 patients with recurrent glioblastoma and other advanced solid tumors.

Former Labor politician Dame Tessa Jowell died in 2018 after a battle with advanced brain cancer glioblastoma (pictured in the House of Lords in 2018)

Of the 21 patients with glioblastoma who received the treatment, a quarter (24 percent) responded well to the drug, with one patient experiencing ‘an exceptional response’ that lasted more than three years.

The abnormal membranes of cancer cells make it easier for proteins in each cell to meet neighboring proteins and create signals that stimulate the growth of the disease.

The drug, known as 2-OHOA, is administered in a sachet with water and is taken three times a day. The drug blocks these signals by making the membranes of cancer cells function like normal cells.

As a result, it ‘inhibits’ the abnormal growth signals that drive cancer progression, according to findings published in the British Journal of Cancer.

A trial of a drug derived from oleic acid – which occurs naturally in olive oil – appears to slow the progression of glioblastoma

Dr. Juanita Lopez, consultant medical oncologist at The Royal Marsden, said: ‘Glioblastoma is an incredibly difficult disease to treat and patients with advanced disease have very poor outcomes and often live only a year after their diagnosis.

‘There has been no effective new treatment for this patient group for almost twenty years, so drug development urgently needs to be accelerated.

‘Unfortunately, patients with brain cancer often do not have the opportunity to participate in early phase studies.

‘This underlines the crucial importance of research into new novel medicines such as 2-OHOA, which is designed based on the same building blocks as olive oil.’

She added: ‘We are very much looking forward to the results of ongoing trials and hope that this treatment will eventually become widely available.’

Glioblastoma is an aggressive form of brain cancer that affects 3,200 people in Britain every year.

They are the most common type of cancerous brain tumor in adults, with an extremely poor prognosis.

The Wanted star Tom Parker died in March 2022 after a year-and-a-half battle with stage four glioblastoma brain cancer, aged just 33.

Further studies are now being carried out at the hospital, in the hope that it will one day become a widespread treatment.

Patient Michele Treen said her “whole world came crashing down” when she was diagnosed with an incurable glioblastoma in March last year.

The study, led by the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust and the Institute of Cancer Research, involved 54 patients with recurrent glioblastoma and other advanced solid tumours.

The 42-year-old, from Crawley, West Sussex, brought her wedding forward and married Aaron a week before undergoing brain surgery.

She said: ‘We were so happy and sad that day, crying the whole time.

‘After the wedding the first thing we did as a married couple was attend another appointment where we were told the tumor was grade four and incurable. Our whole world collapsed.”

She was referred to The Royal Marsden, where she was not only treated with radiotherapy and chemotherapy, but also participated in trials of the drug and recently underwent her fourth stable scan in a row.

‘I recovered well from the operation and when I heard about the trial I thought: why not? There is nothing to lose,” she added.

‘The medicine comes in a sachet – a bit like Lemsip – and I take it three times a day with water.

‘I am experiencing some side effects, such as fatigue and nausea, but we don’t know if that is due to the drug – which could be a placebo – or my ongoing chemotherapy.

‘Anyway, I feel great and can still do the things I like. For example, I spent the summer traveling through Europe in a camper with my husband and 11-year-old daughter. From mountain biking in Andorra to exploring the canals of Venice, I’ve done things I’ll never forget with the people I love most.”