Dirt-dwelling microbe produces potential anti-melanoma weapon

Source: Science Daily, January 2018

A type of soil-dwelling bacterium produces molecules that induce death in melanoma cells, research at Oregon State University shows.
The molecule is a secondary metabolite, also known as a natural product, of Streptomyces bottropensis, and its properties are important because there are not many therapies that effectively manage melanoma, the most dangerous form of skin cancer.
In the U.S. alone, more than 80,000 new melanoma cases are diagnosed each year and about 9,000 melanoma patients die. Men are more likely than women to develop melanoma; the death rate varies by race and ethnicity and is highest among white people..