In vivo treatment of melanoma (B16F10) with a homeopathic agent and with a cytokine (IFN-alpha).

Among the numerous agents tested on melanoma, cytokines have attracted much attention over recent decades, in particular interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha). However, in a small number of experimental assays, homeopathic products have also been used. This study aimed to analyze the effects of INF-alpha and Lymphomyosot, administered individually or in combination, on the growth of B16F10 melanoma transplanted in C57BL/6J mice. Two experiments were performed using 72 young male mice, treated with 1 x 10(6) B16F10 cells and treated with phosphate-buffered saline (I), INF-alpha (II), Lymphomyosot (III), and both INF-alpha and Lymphomyosot (IV). Subsequent morphological and immunohistochemical studies were performed. All treatments produced a reduction in tumor weight with significant differences in those treated with INF-alpha and Lymphomyosot. INF-alpha reduced the cell proliferation index and the spread of inflammatory infiltrates and produced an increase in the extent of intratumoral necrosis. An antitumour effect was displayed by both agents, as was the cytotoxicity of INF-alpha and the immune response-stimulating effect of Lymphomyosot.

Antihyperglycemic drug Gymnema sylvestre also shows anticancer potentials in human melanoma A375 cells via reactive oxygen species generation and mitochondria-dependent caspase pathway.

OBJECTIVE: Ethanolic extract of Gymnema sylvestre (GS) leaves is used as a potent antidiabetic drug in various systems of alternative medicine, including homeopathy. The present study was aimed at examining if GS also had anticancer potentials, and if it had, to elucidate its possible mechanism of action. METHODS: We initially tested possible anticancer potential of GS on A375 cells (human skin melanoma) through MTT assay and determined cytotoxicity levels in A375 and normal liver cells; we then thoroughly studied its apoptotic effects on A375 cells through protocols such as Hoechst 33258, H2DCFDA, and rhodamine 123 staining and conducted ELISA for cytochrome c, caspase 3, and PARP activity levels; we determined the mRNA level expression of cytochrome c, caspase 3, Bcl2, Bax, PARP, ICAD, and EGFR signaling genes through semiquantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction and conducted Western blot analysis of caspase 3 and PARP. We also analyzed cell cycle events, determined reactive oxygen species accumulation, measured annexin V-FITC/PI and rhodamine 123 intensity by flow cytometry. RESULTS: Compared with both normal liver cells and drug-untreated A375, the mortality of GS-treated A375 cells increased in a dose-dependent manner. Additionally, GS induced nuclear DNA fragmentation and showed an increased level of mRNA expression of apoptotic signal related genes cytochrome c, caspase 3, PARP, Bax, and reduced expression level of ICAD, EGFR, and the anti-apoptotic gene Bcl2. CONCLUSION: Overall results indicate GS to have significant anticancer effect on A375 cells apart from its reported antidiabetic effect, indicating possibility of its palliative use in patients with symptoms of both the diseases.

[Regression of over 150 skin metastases of malignant melanoma with complex homeopathic therapy]. / Regression von über 150 Hautmetastasen eines malignen Melanoms bei homöopathischer Komplextherapie.

Within a period of 7 years, a female patient with malignant melanoma on the calf developed over 150 cutaneous metastases in the vicinity of the primary tumour. During the course of the following 8 years all but one of these disappeared again. One year later the patient died of metastases in the lungs and brain. The author discusses this unusual history and examines the significance of a course of homeopathic "complex therapy" administered during the decisive period.

Giant melanoma of the inner thigh: a homeopathic life-threatening negligence.

The strange case of a 37-year-old modern, Western woman who presented with a giant black mass on her inner right thigh is presented. She was treated 10 months before this present admission by an excision of a nodular melanoma, and she was treated, thereafter, by a homeopathic practitioner until she came late to follow-up. The woman is discussed with special attention to the fact that alternative medicine does not always constitute good advice, and the relevant literature is reviewed.