A preliminary study: The selective effect of bee venom on inhibition of cell migration in metastatic breast cancer cells over normal cells in comparison with cisplatin

Bee venom is considered as an effective alternative medication in the treatment of some diseases, such cancer, but it has not been applied to patients routinely. Bee venom has in vitro selective cytotoxic effect on some cancer cells examined but the mechanism of action has not been fully elucidated. Cancer is characterized by not only uncontrolled and increased cell proliferation but also by invasive and metastatic properties of proliferating cells. Wound healing assay is used for revealing the migration rate of cells in vitro. The effect of bee venom on healing diabetes-induced wound has been shown before, but to the best of knowledge there is no study showing migration velocity of metastatic breast cancer cells after bee venom treatment. This study aimed (i) to reveal the metastatic behaviour of metastatic breast cancer cells after bee venom compared to cisplatin, and (ii) also to conclude the differences between normal and cancer cells in terms of migration after bee venom and cisplatin. Findings showed that bee venom was more effective on selective inhibition of cancer cell migration, but cisplatin-mediated inhibitory effect on metastasis could not be detected as even low concentrations of cisplatin induced high rate of cell death. The preliminary findings need to be expanded to cover more cell lines and the mechanism for this effect should be disclosed by detailed molecular methodologies for the future as well.