Pine Tree Bark may Work as a New Melanoma Treatment

Researchers from Penn State College of Medicine discovered a substance from pine bark that could potentially be used to treat melanoma.

As the current drug works to target single proteins, cancer cells often quickly develop resistance to treatments and are unable to ward off disease.

"To a cancer cell, resistance is like a traffic problem in its circuitry," Gavin Robertson, professor of pharmacology, pathology, dermatology, and surgery and director of the Penn State Hershey Melanoma Center, via a press release. "Cancer cells see treatment with a single drug as a road closure and use a detour or other roads to bypass the closure."

For the study, researchers screened 480 natural compounds and identified leelamine, a bark that's derived from pine trees. They believe it can be used as a drug to prevent cancer cells from developing resistance to treatments.

"Natural products can be a source of effective cancer drugs, and several are being used for treating a variety of cancers," Robertson said, via a press release. "Over 60 percent of anti-cancer agents are derived from plants, animals, marine sources or microorganisms. However, leelamine is unique in the way that it acts."

This substance actually acts by shutting down cholesterol transports and can effectively prevent cancer cell growth. Futhermore, it carries the potential to target and shut down several protein pathways, including PI3K, MAPK and STAT-pathways involved in the development of up to 70 percent of melanoma cases.

More information regarding the findings can be seen via the journal Cancer Therapeutics.