Manuka honey shows ‘very surprising’ potential to reduce breast cancer tumor growth
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Manuka honey may represent an alternative natural approach to reducing tumor growth in breast cancer, according to research conducted at UCLA Health Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center.
The nutraceutical therapy appears to confer particular benefit in the ER-positive subtype, which accounts for 70% to 80% of breast cancer cases.
The findings suggested Manuka honey can augment the efficacy of existing treatments, such as tamoxifen.
“It’s important that people don’t think this honey could be a substitute for standard therapy,” Diana Márquez-Garbán, MD, associate professor of medicine at David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, told Healio. “A lot of patients seek out alternative therapies, so it’s important to reassure people that the standard therapies that have been assessed in clinical trials and are known to work are the ones they should take.”
Researchers conducted a series of tests using mouse models of ER-positive breast cancer and ER-positive MCF-7 and triple-negative MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cell lines.
Results showed Manuka honey reduced tumor growth in mice by 84% without affecting healthy breast cells or causing major adverse events. Higher levels of Manuka honey resulted in greater decreases in cancer cell growth.
An investigation using in vitro models showed Manuka honey inhibited cell propagation of MCF7 cells in a dose-dependent fashion and triggered apoptosis through poly(ADP)-ribose polymerase activation. Manuka honey stimulated adenosine monophosphate-activated kinase activity. It also suppressed mammalian target of rapamycin downstream signaling and STAT3, both of which are involved in tumor cell growth and persistence.
Healio spoke with Márquez-Garbán about the compounds in Manuka honey that may produce anti-tumor effects, the implications of these findings and next steps in research.
Healio: What prompted you and your colleagues to conduct this research?
Márquez-Garbán: Manuka honey has been known for its antioxidant effects. It has been used for wound healing, and it has compounds that can create an antiseptic effect. There were some reports that it could also be beneficial in cancer due to the composition of the honey. It contains polyphenols, such as flavonoids, which may have an effect on cancer cells.
We became interested in Manuka honey, and especially this honey that is produced in New Zealand. It has very high levels of many of these compounds. When we did our experiments, there were already a few reports that people had evaluated it in cancer cells. We were studying other types of natural compounds at the time, and we became interested in evaluating this, as well.
Healio: How did you conduct this study?
Márquez-Garbán: We assessed a cell line that is used to represent hormone-responsive breast cancer. To grow these cells, you give estrogen to the mice, then inject the tumors under their skin in their flanks. We fed them honey twice a day. Because these mice are immunosuppressed and don’t have fur, we could measure the tumors as they grew.
Healio: What did you find?
Márquez-Garbán: The tumors in mice shrank about 80%, which was very surprising. At the same time, we evaluated the honey on cells in vitro to see the effects it might have on the growth of the cells and where the pathways are that it targets. Surprisingly, we found there are several pathways that the compounds in the honey target. We see effects of the signaling pathways that are activated in cancer and were inhibited by the honey.
Healio: Do you believe this will have a role at some point in clinical practice?
Márquez-Garbán: I believe it will. It will be important to determine if it’s effective in a clinical trial. Because honey is a food, it can be called a food supplement. Manuka honey used to only be produced in New Zealand and Australia, but now it is widely available. This isn’t FDA regulated; anyone can take it but it will be important to evaluate its effect in a clinical trial so we can recommend it to patients with the proper scientific validation.
Healio: What are the next steps in research?
Márquez-Garbán: The next step will be to evaluate it in more cell lines and patient-derived xenografts, as well as evaluate the different compounds that are in the honey separately. Then we might evaluate it in a clinical trial.
References:
- Márquez-Garbán DC, et al. Nutrients. 2024;doi:10.3390/nu16142369.
- UCLA Health. Preliminary study shows potential of Manuka honey as a nutraceutical for breast cancer (press release). Available at: https://www.uclahealth.org/news/release/preliminary-study-shows-potential-manuka-honey-nutraceutical. Posted Aug. 19, 2024. Accessed Sept. 10, 2024.
For more information:
Diana Márquez-Garbán, MD, can be reached at dmarquez@mednet.ucla.edu.
Collapse
Healio Interviews
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts