Natural cure for cancer
The most frequent malignancy in women is breast cancer. The two more aggressive varieties, triple-negative and HER2-enriched, are linked to the worst possible prognoses. They frequently grow resistant to current therapies.
2020 saw the discovery by researchers at the University of Western Australia and the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research in Perth, Australia, that melittin and honeybee venom can completely destroy cancer cell membranes in 60 minutes while having very little effect on healthy cells.
Melittin punches holes in the outer membrane of malignant cells, killing them in less than an hour. But within 20 minutes of injection, it also interferes with the chemical signals that cells require in order to proliferate and divide.
The researchers found that melittin accomplishes this by blocking the activation of growth factor receptors in the membranes of the cells. The high density of these receptors in HER2-enriched cancer cells and some triple-negative breast tumours contributes to their uncontrollably growing growth.
Melittin inhibits the growth of the cells by blocking the transmission of these growth signals.
