While many of us have experienced painful encounters with the pointy end of a honeybee, their weapons could be more than just a nuisance. A new lab study shows that a molecule found in bee venom can suppress the growth of particularly nasty cancer cells.
The study focussed on certain subtypes of breast cancer, including triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), which is an extremely aggressive condition with limited treatment options.
TNBC accounts for up to 15 percent of all breast cancers. In many cases, its cells produce more of a molecule called EGFR than seen in normal cells. Previous attempts to develop treatments that specifically target this molecule have not worked, because they would also negatively affect healthy cells.
Honeybee (Apis mellifera) venom has shown potential in other medical therapies such as treating eczema, and has been known to have anti-tumour properties for some time now, including melanoma. But how it works against tumours at a molecular level isn't fully understood. Now, we've taken a huge step closer to the answer.
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