In less than 60 minutes, a component of bee venom eliminated all of the
most resistant breast cancer cells.
Australian researchers discovered that breast cancer cells were swiftly
killed by honeybee venom. Even for the most aggressive and challenging to
treat types of breast cancer, the venom showed to be quite efficient at
reducing tumor development. Additionally, chemicals found in the venom
improved the effectiveness of chemotherapy.
The poison is made by the dosage.
Bee stings may be excruciatingly unpleasant and, in extreme circumstances,
even fatal. Due to the allergic (anaphylactic) shock they can produce, bee
stings are considered the "most fatal venomous animal encounter" in the
US.
But scientists at Perth, Australia's Harry Perkins Institute of Medical
Research have discovered that honeybee venom can be a powerful therapeutic
agent that can prevent cancer deaths.
Dr. Ciara Duffy's group collected venom from honeybee colonies in England,
Australia, and Ireland. After being put to sleep with CO2, the bees were
held on ice until the venom was removed and injected into breast cancer
tumors.
Studies on mice revealed that the bee venom completely eliminated
triple-negative breast cancer cells at particular dosages. Triple-negative
breast cancer is a kind of breast cancer that lacks any of the regular
receptors present in other types of cancer. It can thus be quite challenging
to cure.
Within 60 minutes, the cancer cells were eliminated with little negative
impact on healthy cells.
The venom's ability to fight cancer may be due to a substance called
melittin. Melittin creates pores or holes in the plasma membrane of cancer
cells, causing the cells to die.
The primary signaling routes that cancer cells depend on to communicate,
grow, and proliferate are disrupted by melittin, according to
research.
According to Dr. Duffy, "we examined how melittin and honeybee venom
influence cancer signaling pathways, the chemical messages essential for
cancer cell growth and reproduction, and we discovered that these signaling
pathways were shut down extremely fast."
"Melittin modulated the signaling in breast cancer cells by suppressing the
activation of the receptor, the epidermal growth factor receptor, which is
frequently overexpressed in triple-negative breast cancer, and it suppressed
the activation of HER2, which is overexpressed in HER2-enriched breast
cancer," she continued.
Additionally, the researchers were interested in observing how melittin
reacted with docetaxel, a common chemotherapy medicine. Surprisingly, the
chemotherapy was easily able to permeate the diseased cells thanks to the
pores and holes the bee venom component created, significantly slowing the
growth of tumors in mice.
We discovered that melittin is effective in treating aggressive forms of
breast cancer when combined with small molecules or chemotherapy drugs like
docetaxel. Melittin and docetaxel together were quite effective at slowing
the growth of tumors in mice, according to Dr. Duffy.
Fortunately, melittin can be produced, so no more bees will need to be
killed for bee venom-based treatments in the future. The authors of the
current study are cautiously enthusiastic regarding its potential uses but
emphasize that more studies are need to confirm this promising
treatment.
Before starting clinical trials, researchers want to look at toxicity and
determine the safest, most effective amount.
The findings were reported today in the journal Nature.
