Promising peptide slows the spread and growth of melanoma in mice

Source: New Atlas, May 2022

Melanoma is the deadliest form of skin cancer, thanks to its ability to rapidly spread to other organs. Brazilian researchers have now developed a peptide that seems to slow the growth and spread of melanoma, improving the survival rates of test mice.

Skin cancer is the most common type of cancer, and although melanoma is only responsible for about one percent of those cases, it causes the majority of skin cancer deaths. That’s because it’s especially prone to metastasizing.

Previous studies have linked a protein called PLP2 to melanoma’s deadliness – overexpression was found to increase its metastasis, while blocking it inhibited growth and spread. In the new study, researchers developed a peptide called Rb4, which is derived from PLP2, and tested how well it worked against melanoma.

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