Melanoma is the more dangerous skin cancer, and metastatic melanoma still carries
poor prognosis. Despite recent therapeutic advances, prolonged survival remains rare and
research is still required. Propolis extracts from many countries have attracted a great deal of
attention for their biological properties. We here investigated the ability of an ethanolic extract
of Algerian propolis (EEP) to control melanoma tumour growth when given to mice bearing
B16F1melanoma tumour either as preventive or as therapeutic treatment. EEP given after
tumour occurrence increased mice survival (+30%) and reduced tumour growth (-75%). This was
associated with a decrease of the Mitotic Index (-75%) and of Ki-67 (-50%) expression. When
given either before or both before and after tumour occurrence, EEP reduced tumour growth but
without prolonging mice life. Isolation of B16F1 melanoma cells from resected tumour showed
that preventive and curative EEP treatments reduced invasiveness by 55% and 40% respectively
compared to control. Galangin, one of the most abundant flavonoids in propolis, significantly
reduced the number of melanoma cells in vitro and induced autophagy/apoptosis dose
dependently. In conclusion, we showed that EEP reduced melanoma tumour progression/dissemination and could
extend mice lifespan when used as therapeutic treatment. Then, EEP may help patients with melanoma when used as a
complementary therapy to classical treatment for which autophagy is not contraindicated.
SARS Coronavirus Pathogenesis and Therapeutic Treatment Design