The director of the Iberoamerican University Foundation (FUNIBER) in Italy, Dr. Maurizio Battino, is participating in a study to evaluate the in vitro effect of Manuka honey and its combination with 5-fluorouracil (5-Fu) in the treatment of colon cancer.
In 2022, colorectal cancer (CRC) was the third leading cancer by incidence and the second leading cancer by mortality worldwide. Although the survival rate has increased, the recurrence rate remains very high, mainly in patients with stage IV tumors.
The pharmacological treatments used, including 5-Fu, one of the most common, have shown low efficiency, and this is mainly due to the phenomenon of chemoresistance, because of various mechanisms; one of them is the greater resistance to cell death phenomena such as apoptosis.
However, in recent years, research has focused on various compounds, including natural ones. Natural compounds have been found to have chemosensitizing effects on common chemotherapeutic drugs. Likewise, scientific evidence has been found that the consumption of phenolic compounds is related to a lower risk of developing CRC.
Honey is widely known to modulate various biological activities and prevent diseases such as cancer. Manuka honey (MH) from New Zealand is rich in polyphenols, essentially flavonols such as quercetin, lutein, phenolic acids, etc.
The aim of the research was to evaluate the in vitro effect of MH and its combination with 5-Fu on cancer stem cells generated from the colon adenocarcinoma cell line HCT-116, enriched by the sphere formation assay, which also allowed working with a 3D tumor model. Morphological and physical parameters, such as diameter, mass density, and weight, etc., were also evaluated.
Research results
The combination of Manuka honey with 5-Fu decreases certain morphological and physical parameters of cancer stem cell-enriched colonspheres (CSC), closely linked to pharmacological efficacy in 3D models, such as weight, diameter, and mass density of spheroids. Likewise, MH and its combination with 5-Fu was able to induce apoptosis in spheroid-generated CSCs by down-regulating various inhibitors of apoptosis.
If you want to know more about this fascinating study, click here. The Iberoamerican University Foundation (FUNIBER) offers various programs in the field of Health and Nutrition, such as the International Master in Diet and Nutrition.