Tumors, Iss: “Caffeine has a protective effect against melanoma”

Caffeine has an evident protective effect against the growth of human melanoma cells. This is the conclusion reached by the researchers of the Higher Institute of Health in collaboration with colleagues from the Irccs Idi in Rome and Neuromed in Pozzilli and the universities of Ferrara and Tor Vergata in Rome, in a study just published in the international journal ” Molecules’. The study – reads the ISS website – was focused on identifying the mechanisms through which caffeine plays an important protective role against certain types of tumors, already described in many works in the literature, but not yet fully characterized at the level molecular. “Using in silico and in vitro approaches, we have identified a protein that probably – explains Francesco Facchiano, coordinator of the study carried out at the ISS Department of Oncology and Molecular Medicine – plays a fundamental role in this beneficial action of caffeine, namely the tyrosinase enzyme which, as is known, has a key function in the synthesis of melanin and which would carry out both a protective action against the effects of damage generated by UV rays, and an important immunomodulation function. In fact, melanin produced by melanoma cells human exposure to caffeine was significantly increased “.” Very important – underlines Claudio Tabolacci, first author of the article and researcher supported by the Umberto Veronesi Foundation – was the choice of cell models, which in this study are the ‘melanoma initiating cells’ which have interesting characteristics of stemness, including the ability to confer resistance to drugs and tumor recurrence: caffeine significantly reduced the growth of these cells. We also highlighted the role of signal molecules such as Il-1β, Ip-10, Mip-1α, Mip-1β and Rantes, whose secretion by these cultured cells is reduced when exposed to caffeine “. drugs, caffeine also has potential side effects, but the results of the recently published study open new and interesting perspectives in the field of differentiation therapy, aimed at differentiating cells to target only cancer cells, avoiding the appearance of relapses after chemotherapy treatment Therapy that – concludes the ISS – for malignant tumors such as cutaneous melanoma is considered a promising field of study.