According to a story from Medical Xpress, a team of researchers has discovered a naturally occurring plant compound that exploits a particular weakness found in uveal melanoma, a rare type of melanoma which affects the eye. The team from the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis say that this compound is able to prevent uveal melanoma from growing.
About Uveal Melanoma
Typically melanoma is known as a cancer that appears on the skin in cells called melanocytes, and in this form it is quite common, affecting millions of people yearly. However, more rarely, melanoma can also appear in the eyes, known as uveal melanoma. After all, melanocytes, or pigment cells, are present in the eyes as well. While regular melanoma is linked to UV light exposure, it is unclear what causes uveal melanoma. People with lighter skin and blue eyes are at greater risk They can appear in any part of the uvea, which includes the iris, the choroid, or the ciliary body. Treatments include radiation therapy, removal of the affected eye, proton therapy, and thermotherapy. The five year survival rate is just 15 percent if the cancer spreads beyond the eye. To learn more about uveal melanoma, click here.
Limited Treatments
Unfortunately, while melanoma itself has seen several recent therapeutic innovations lately, many of these treatments have no effect on uveal melanoma. An over active protein called G alpha q has been known as a potential exploit in uveal melanoma, but scientists have not figured out a way to shut it down. Instead, researchers have been trying to find a way to catch G alpha q in a dormant state and trap it there; this occurs when the molecule that keeps it active splits apart from the protein.
Primrose Power
The compound FR, which is naturally occurring a certain species of plant in the primrose family, is able to do it. FR is able to bind to the G alpha q in order to keep in inactive. Once this happens, uveal melanoma can’t grow, and tumor cells die. Go plants!
Thankfully, G alpha q intermittently shuts on and off on its own, so it is just a matter of catching the protein when it is inactive. In addition, FR can actually revert some cancer cells back to a state that resembles healthy melanocytes. The next step will be testing the compound in mouse models of uveal melanoma.
