According to a recent study published in Precision Oncology, Dr. Ciara Duffy of the Harry Jenkins Medical Research Institute and the University of Western Australia tested the effects of venom on the clinical subtypes of breast cancer using 312 strains of bee and bumblebee venom from Perth WEST, Australia, Ireland, and England.The results showed that bee venom was effective against triple negative breast cancer and breast cancer cells with high HER2 expression.

The purpose of the study was to study the anticancer properties of bee venom and a component of apitoxin against different types of breast cancer cells, Dr. Duffy said."We tested a tiny, positively charged peptide in bee venom called bee venom peptide, and we were able to synthesize it and found that the synthetic product effectively reproduced most of the anticancer effects of bee venom."

We found that both bee venom and bee venom peptides significantly, selectively and rapidly reduced the activity of triple negative breast cancer and her2-rich breast cancer cells.A specific concentration of bee venom can induce 100 percent of cancer cells to die, with little effect on normal cells.In addition, we found that the bee venom peptide can completely destroy the membrane of cancer cells within 60 minutes."

The apitoxin in bee venom also has another notable effect.Within 20 minutes, the bee venom peptide reduces the chemical signals necessary for cancer cells to grow and divide.

"Bee toxin regulates signal transduction in breast cancer cells by inhibiting the activation of a receptor (epidermal growth factor receptor) that is normally overexpressed in triple negative breast cancer, and inhibits the activation of HER2 overexpressed in breast cancer that is rich in HER2.Importantly, this study shows how bee venom peptides interfere with signaling pathways in breast cancer cells to reduce cell replication."It provides an excellent example of how natural compounds can be used to treat human diseases."