Melittin and cancer treatment: Nanotechnological perspective

Abstract

Cancer continues to be one of the most important health problems threatening human health. Recently, methods such as surgical methods, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, immunotherapy, cancer vaccines are used in the treatment of cancer. However, the fact that these treatment methods, especially chemotherapy, cause some side effects, the interest in natural products has incrased. Melittin, one of the peptide components of bee venom, is one of the most important active ingredients used in cancer treatment. The anti-cancer efficacy of Melittin has been pre-clinically tested in treatment of various types of cancer with previous research. However, in order for these pre-clinical results to be applied to the clinic, problems such as hemolytic activity caused by melittin primarily, nonspecific toxicity and degradation should be overcome. In this review, the current literature on the in-vitro and in-vivo applications of bee venom components for the treatment of various cancer types, which are very current and still under development, are brought together in terms of nanotechnological applications.