Everything Cures Melanoma: Installment #6

Here we go again!  If all these things cure melanoma....why do we have it???  Don't get me wrong...if any of these readily available (hmmmm.... Cough! Cough!) items hold the key to a cure....I am ALL FOR IT!!!  Here's a prior compilation:  Everything Cures Melanoma - Redux #5

Identification of predominant phytochemical compounds and cytotoxic activity of wild olive leaves (Olea europaea L. ssp. sylvestris) harvested in south Portugal. Makowska-Wąs, Galanty, Gdula-Argasińska, et al. Chem Biodivers. 2016 Dec 16.

This study has been aimed at providing a qualitative and quantitative evaluation of selected phytochemicals such as phenolic acids, flavonoids, oleuropein, fatty acids profile, and volatile oil compounds, present in wild olive leaves harvested in Portugal, as well as at determining their antioxidant and cytotoxic potential against human melanoma HTB-140 and WM793, prostate cancer DU-145 and PC-3, hepatocellular carcinoma Hep G2 cell lines, as well as normal human skin fibroblasts BJ and prostate epithelial cells PNT2. Gallic, protocatechuic, 4-hydroxybenzoic, vanillic acids, apigenin 7-O-glucoside, luteolin 7-O-glucoside, and rutin were identified in olive leaves. The amount of oleuropein was equal to 22.64 g/kg dry weight. (E)-anethole (32.85%), fenchone (11.89%), and (Z)-3-nonen-1-ol (8%) were found to be the main constituents of the oil volatile fraction, whereas palmitic, oleic, and alpha-linolenic acid were determined to be dominating fatty acids. Olive leaves methanol extract was observed to exerted a significant, selective cytotoxic effect on Du-145 and PC-3 cell lines. Except the essential oil composition, evaluated wild olive leaves, with regard to their quantitative and qualitative composition, do not substantially differ from the leaves of other cultivars grown for industrial purposes and they reveal considerable antioxidant and cytotoxic properties. Thus, the wild species may prove to be suitable for use in traditional medicine as cancer chemoprevention.

Data on melanin production in B16F1 melanoma cells in the presence of emu oil. Ito, Minami, Sagane, et al. Data Brief. 2016 Nov 17.

Here, we present data on the effects of emu oil, obtained from emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae) fat deposits, on melanogenesis in B16F1 murine melanoma cells. The cells were cultured in media containing different concentrations of emu oil, and the melanin content of these cells was measured using a microplate reader. Next, melanin content was measured for cells cultured with α-melanocyte-stimulating hormone. This article reports the different melanin contents as μg melanin/mg cellular protein, by using bar graphs with error bars. The present data imply that emu oil reduces the cellular melanin production.

Augmentation of Cytolytic Activity in Murine Natural Killer Cells and Inhibition of Tumor Growth by the Ethanol Fraction of Oyster Extract. Sakaguchi, Zhong, Kawai, et al. Integr Cancer Ther. 2016 Dec 5.

A reduced number and/or reduced activity of natural killer (NK) cells, which are important for defense against a variety of cancers and viral infections, occur under various stress conditions and in patients with various diseases. In this article, we report that the 30% to 50% ethanol precipitate of oyster extract (EPOE50) dose-dependently enhanced the activity of mouse spleen NK cells in vitro and in vivo. The activity of EPOE50 was eluted with a molecular weight of about 2000 by gel filtration and was inactivated by periodate but not by proteinase K. The activity of highly purified NK cells was also augmented by EPOE50 but not by oligodeoxyribonucleotide 1585, which mimics bacterial DNA. Administration of EPOE50 to mice stimulated splenic NK cell activity without a change in splenic NK cell populations. Although the proliferation of B16 tumor cells in vitro was slightly stimulated by EPOE50, the growth of B16 melanoma in vivo was dose-dependently suppressed by administration of EPOE50. Taken together, our results indicate that EPOE50 augmented NK cell activity and that its administration to mice inhibited tumor growth presumably through the activation of NK cells and also suggest that the active substance is a sugar-containing oligomer or polymer and is not of bacterial origin.

Lectin from seeds of a Brazilian lima bean variety (Phaseolus lunatus L. var. cascavel) presents antioxidant, antitumour and gastroprotective activities. E Lacerda, do Nascimento, de Lacerda, et al. Int J Biol Macromol. 2016 Oct 28.

Lectins are proteins able to interact specifically and reversibly with carbohydrates. They are present in all living beings, particularly in legume seeds, which have many biological functions. The aim of this study was to isolate, characterize and verify antioxidant, anti-hemolytic, antitumor and gastroprotective activities in a lectin present in seeds of Phaseolus lunatus L. var. cascavel (PLUN). The isolation of lectin was performed by size exclusion chromatography on Sephadex G-100, which was isolated from a protein capable of agglutinating only human erythrocytes type A, being this the only inhibited haemagglutination n-acetyl-d-galactosamine. Its weight was estimated by PAGE is 128kDa. The lectin is thermostable up to 80°C and is active between pH 2 to 11. As 8M urea was able to denature the lectin. PLUN is a glycoprotein consisting of 2% carbohydrate and has antioxidant action with ascorbic acid equivalent antioxidant capacity (μMAA/g) of 418.20, 326 and 82.9 for total antioxidant activity, ABTS radical capture and capture of DPPH radical, respectively. The lectin has antitumor activity against melanoma derived cells at doses of 100 and 50mg/ml, reducing up to 83% tumor cells, and gastroprotective action, reducing up to 63% damaged area of ​​the stomach induced by ethanol.

Potential anticancer activity of lichen secondary metabolite physodic acid. Cardile, Graziano, Avola, et al. Chem Biol Interact. 2016 Dec 21.

Secondary metabolites present in lichens, which comprise aliphatic, cycloaliphatic, aromatic and terpenic compounds, are unique with respect to those of higher plants and show interesting biological and pharmacological activities. However, only a few of these compounds, have been assessed for their effectiveness against various in vitro cancer models. In the present study, we investigated the cytotoxicity of three lichen secondary metabolites (atranorin, gyrophoric acid and physodic acid) on A375 melanoma cancer cell line. The tested compounds arise from different lichen species collected in different areas of Continental and Antarctic Chile. The obtained results confirm the major efficiency of depsidones. In fact, depsides atranorin and gyrophoric acid, showed a lower activity inhibiting the melanoma cancer cells only at more high concentrations. Whereas the depsidone physodic acid, showed a dose-response relationship in the range of 6.25-50 μM concentrations in A375 cells, activating an apoptotic process, that probably involves the reduction of Hsp70 expression. Although the molecular mechanism, by which apoptosis is induced by physodic acid remains unclear, and of course further studies are needed, the results here reported confirm the promising biological properties of depsidone compounds, and may offer a further impulse to the development of analogues with more powerful efficiency against melanoma cells.

Coffee, tea and melanoma risk: findings from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition. Caini, Masala, Sajeva, et al. Int J Cancer. 2017 Feb 20.

In vitro and animal studies suggest that bioactive constituents of coffee and tea may have anticarcinogenic effects against cutaneous melanoma, however epidemiological evidence is limited to date. We examined the relationships between coffee (total, caffeinated or decaffeinated) and tea consumption and risk of melanoma in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC). EPIC is a multi-centre prospective study that enrolled over 500,000 participants aged 25-70 years from ten European countries in 1992-2000. Information on coffee and tea drinking was collected at baseline using validated country-specific dietary questionnaires. ... Overall, 2,712 melanoma cases were identified during a median follow-up of 14.9 years among 476,160 study participants. Consumption of caffeinated coffee was inversely associated with melanoma risk among men, but not among women. There were no statistically significant associations between consumption of decaffeinated coffee or tea and the risk of melanoma among both men and women. The consumption of caffeinated coffee was inversely associated with melanoma risk among men in this large cohort study. Further investigations are warranted to confirm our findings and clarify the possible role of caffeine and other coffee compounds in reducing the risk of melanoma.

Wild olive leaves, emu oil, oyster goo, Brazilian lima beans with a cup of coffee anyone (or for you dudes, at least!)???  I'm pass'n my plate!!! 

For what it's worth! - c