Posted on 09/02/2020 12:03:08 PM PDT by EBH
A young Australian scientist's groundbreaking research has found honeybees could hold the secret to treating one of the most aggressive forms of breast cancer. Dr Ciara Duffy, 25, from the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research and The University of Western Australia, found venom from the honeybee could kill cancer cells in just 60 minutes.
As part of her PhD studies, Dr Duffy tested the effect of the venom from 312 honeybees and bumblees from Perth and Europe on types of breast cancer, including triple-negative breast cancer.
The results, published in the international journal Nature Precision Oncology, showed honeybee venom, and a component compound melittin, rapidly destroyed triple-negative breast cancer and HER2-enriched breast cancer cells.
"We found both honeybee venom and melittin significantly, selectively and rapidly reduced the viability of triple-negative breast cancer and HER2-enriched breast cancer cells," Dr Duffy said. "The venom was extremely potent. We found that melittin can completely destroy cancer cell membranes within 60 minutes."
Triple negative breast cancer is an aggressive form of breast cancer which is is more likely to have spread at the time it's found and is more likely to come back after treatment than other types of breast cancer.
A specific concentration of the honeybee venom caused 100 per cent cancer cell death with minimal effects on normal cells. Within 20 minutes melittin was also able to substantially reduce the chemical messages of cancer cells essential to cancer cell growth and cell division.
"We looked at how honeybee venom and melittin affect the cancer signalling pathways, the chemical messages that are fundamental for cancer cell growth and reproduction, and we found that very quickly these signalling pathways were shut down," Dr Duffy said.
In Dr Duffy's research the bees were put to sleep with carbon dioxide and kept on ice before the venom barb was pulled out from the abdomen of the bee and the venom was extracted and injected into the tumours.
Dr Duffy also examined the effect of melittin used in combination with existing chemotherapy and found holes in breast cancer membranes caused by the melittin allowed the chemotherapy to enter the cell and work effectively in reducing tumour growth in mice. Western Australia's Chief Scientist Professor Peter Klinken described Dr Duffy's research as "incredibly exciting"
"Significantly, this study demonstrates how melittin interferes with signalling pathways within breast cancer cells to reduce cell replication," he said. "It provides another wonderful example of where compounds in nature can be used to treat human diseases."
While the findings are an exciting development, Dr Duffy said there was a long way to go before a honeybee venom treatment is delivered to cancer patients.
Future studies will be required to formally assess the best method of delivery of melittin, as well as toxicities and maximum tolerated doses.
Praise God for his honey bees
Amen!
Do female beekeepers, who occasionally get stung, have lower incidences of this type of cancer? I wonder.
A friend with MS tells me bee venom is supposed to be helpful for that. Hmm.
Hold the venom, pass the honey.
It will never be approved by the FDA - no profit for big pharma.
“Do female beekeepers, who occasionally get stung, have lower incidences of this type of cancer?”
What a great question, unfortunately, I suspect that there are not enough female bee keepers to get a statistically valid sample size.
You would be hard pressed to find a more helpful incest than the Honey Bee :)
So just flashing your boobs at a bee hive and getting stung might work??
INSECT than the Honey Bee
And this is the last we will ever hear of it.
“In Dr Duffy’s research the bees were put to sleep with carbon dioxide and kept on ice before the venom barb was pulled out from the abdomen of the bee and the venom was extracted and injected into the tumours.”
“Save the honeybee!”
Wow. Sure am glad they made sure those bees were properly sedated, rather than ripping them limb from limb, without anesthesia, like a worthless clump of cells sometimes referred to as a human fetus.
But, follow up question: Were the bees ok?
Do I need a /s?
My wife had HER2 and we had bees. She was never stung because of all the chemicals from Chemo. She sure enjoyed watching them fly around.
Got to love the Honeybee
Yes. PETA will be here real soon.
Its a logical question, probably one that will not have a definitive answer. For one thing, in the experiment, the collected venom was injected directly into the tumor. The necessary local serum levels of mellitin were not mentioned, and might be far higher than could be achieved by an occasional sting. But sometimes, these real-life retrospective studies (You’ve got triple negative cancer, what’s your occupation) can be suggestive.
My grandfather was a beekeeper. When his arthritis was bothering him he would stick his hand in a hive for about five seconds to get bitten. He swore this would relieve his pain. I now have arthritis but I’m not yet at the point to do what he did.
Had an uncle that kept bees and he swore the getting stung helped his arthritis.
Collected bee venom is very expensive.
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