Medicine: Research study finds honeybee venom rapidly kills aggressive breast cancer cells

ABC News said:

Venom from honeybees has been found to rapidly kill aggressive and hard-to-treat breast cancer cells, according to potentially ground-breaking new Australian research.

The study also found when the venom's main component was combined with existing chemotherapy drugs, it was extremely efficient at reducing tumour growth in mice.

Published in the journal Nature Precision Oncology, the research was conducted at Perth's Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research by Dr Ciara Duffy as part of her PhD.

Dr Duffy hoped the discovery would lead to the development of a treatment for triple-negative breast cancer, which accounts for 10 to 15 per cent of all breast cancers and for which there are currently no clinically effective targeted therapies.

She said the honeybee venom had proven extremely potent.

"We found that the venom from honeybees is remarkably effective in killing some of these really aggressive breast cancer cells at concentrations which aren't as damaging to normal cells," Dr Duffy said.

The research showed a specific concentration of the venom killed 100 per cent of triple-negative breast cancer and HER2-enriched breast cancer cells within 60 minutes, while having minimal effects on normal cells.

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