Honey has all sorts of often hidden medicinal qualities, but Manuka honey is set to receive increasing attention after it was recently shown to reduce the proliferation of breast cancer cells.
She did so in a sophisticated way that even resulted in the occasional triggering of natural cell death, or apoptosis, a mechanism that is bypassed when a malignant cell becomes cancerous.
Manuka honey is made by bees that feed on the nectar of the Manuka tree found in New Zealand and coastal Australia. This member of the Myrtle family is a cousin to other plants that produce powerful medicinal products such as cloves, allspice and eucalyptus.
In a study published in the journal Nutrients, researchers at UC Los Angeles Health Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center found that Manuka honey significantly reduced tumor growth in mice with ER-positive breast cancer cells by 84% without affecting normal breast cells or causing major side effects.
ER-positive breast cancer accounts for approximately 60–70% of all breast cancer cases in a given year.
Manuka honey is thought to be unique from all other types of commercially produced honey because of its unique chemical composition. Manuka honey has been found to be antibacterial, not just against the bacteria that parents worry about when their child scratches their knee, but also against those that cause diseases like cystic fibrosis.
“These results provide hope for the development of a natural, less toxic alternative to traditional chemotherapy,” said Dr. Diana Márquez-Garbán, associate professor of medicine at UCLA and lead author of the study.
“Although further research is needed to fully understand the benefits of natural compounds in cancer treatment, this study establishes a solid foundation for further exploration in this area.”
In ER-positive breast cancer, tumor cells use estrogen to grow. To fight tumors, breast cancer patients take estrogen blockers as a nontoxic way to starve them. However, cancer tumors are sometimes able to develop resistance to these treatments, making chemotherapy the only alternative.
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During experiments on human cancer cells in vitroThe researchers found that the best anti-cancer response was achieved when Manuka honey was combined with tamoxifen, a common anti-estrogen drug. Under these circumstances, the proliferation of ER-positive cells was significantly suppressed, and the combination also significantly inhibited the growth of triple-negative breast cancer, another common form, which honey alone could only do in most cases.
In vivo Experiments were then conducted on mice, in which they observed the 84% reduction in cell proliferation mentioned above.
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“These results indicate that natural compounds such as Manuka honey, with significant antitumor activity and selectivity toward hormone receptor-positive breast cancers, can be further developed as a potential supplement or alternative to cytotoxic anticancer drugs that have non-selective adverse effects,” the researchers concluded.
New Zealand Manuka honey must undergo a five-step process called the Manuka Honey Scientific Definition Test developed by the Ministry of Primary Industries to ensure that all honey manufactured for export is standardised to certain chemical and physical characteristics.
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This includes the presence of naturally occurring methylglyoxal, dihydroxyacetone and leptosperin, as well as traces of DNA from the Manuka plant. Without these elements, it is illegal to call a product Manuka honey. The Australian AMHA and New Zealand UMFHA are producer organisations that do their part to ensure that any product labelled Manuka honey meets the standards to be called as such.
These guilds have authenticity marks that consumers can look for to know that the medicinal honey they are purchasing is authentic, as the amount of counterfeit Manuka honey on the market is estimated to be 6 times the amount of genuine Manuka honey.
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