The Testing Evidence for Using Ivermectin for Treating Melanoma or Skin Cancer
Executive Summary
- This article covers the evidence I could find for Ivermectin as a treatment for melanoma.
Introduction
This article provides an overview covering the evidence for Ivermectin for melanoma.
In many articles on this site, such as the article How Ivermectin Is Useful for Treating Cancer we covered the evidence for the benefits of Ivermectin for cancer. However, the topic of which specific cancers Ivermectin has been proven effective is a constant source of questions.
There are a lot of quotes in this article, but I have a short one for each cancer type. The article uses the term “IVM” to mean Ivermectin.
Cancer Type #9: Melanoma
Melanoma is the most common malignant skin tumor with a high mortality rate. Drugs targeting BRAF mutations such as vemurafenib, dabrafenib and PD-1 monoclonal antibodies, including pembrolizumab and nivolumab have greatly improved the prognosis of melanoma. Gallardo treated melanoma cells with IVM and found that it could effectively inhibit melanoma activity. Interestingly, IVM could also show activity against BRAF wild-type melanoma cells, and its combination with dapafinib could significantly increase antitumor activity. Additionally, it has been confirmed that PAK1 is the key target of IVM that mediates its anti-melanoma activity, and IVM can also significantly reduce the lung metastasis of melanoma in animal experiments. Deng found that IVM could activate the nuclear translocation of TFE3 and induce autophagy-dependent cell death by dephosphorylation of TFE3 (Ser321) in SK-MEL-28 melanoma cells. However, NAC reversed the effect of IVM, which indicated that IVM increased TFE3-dependent autophagy through the ROS signaling pathway.
This metanalysis study was published on the NIH or National Institutes of Health website. However, it was funded by Indian science institutes.
The Importance of The NIH Stopping Any Funding For Ivermectin Studies
Notice that none of the studies on Ivermectin were performed in the US. The US has by far the largest national medical research budget in the world, and so if the US is not performing studies, this is not only a negative but tells us something peculiar about what the NIH is deciding not to fund in the area of cancer research.
Zero is the number of studies funded by the NIH on Ivermectin. The NIH will not fund studies into generic drugs, as the NIH is controlled by pharmaceutical companies and they have deep financial ties to them. Funding research into generic drugs could end up showing those drugs as effective, which is a threat to pharmaceutical profits, which the NIH is dedicated to maximizing.
Testing Evidence for Ivermectin
The following quotes are from the article Ivermectin, a potential anticancer drug derived from an antiparasitic drug.
Impact #1: Inhibiting Proliferation of Tumor Cells
Recently, ivermectin has been reported to inhibit the proliferation of several tumor cells by regulating multiple signaling pathways.
The Ivermectin blocking of PAK1 proteins, aka activated kinase, is a reason for this.
The instrumentality of PAK1 in cancer growth is explained in the following quotation from the article Ivermectin: enigmatic multifaceted ‘wonder’ drug continues to surprise and exceed expectations.
In human ovarian cancer and NF2 tumor cell lines, high-dose ivermectin inactivates protein kinase PAK1 and blocks PAK1-dependent growth.
PAK proteins are essential for cytoskeletal reorganization and nuclear signaling, PAK1 being implicated in tumor genesis while inhibiting PAK1 signals induces tumor cell apoptosis (cell death).
PAK1 is essential for the growth of more than 70% of all human cancers, including breast, prostate, pancreatic, colon, gastric, lung, cervical and thyroid cancers, as well as hepatoma, glioma, melanoma, multiple myeloma and for neurofibromatosis tumors.
PAK1 becomes hyperactive in cancer cells for reasons that are not yet understood.
Ivermectin can be viewed as a PAK1 restrictor or modulator (I say modulator, as PAK1 is present in normal, healthy cells, but an overabundance of PAK is a prime cause of cancer). This means that Ivermectin interferes with a precursor to cancer. This modulating influence on PAK is another reason Ivermectin is effective against many types of cancer.
PAK1 is implicated in multiple cancers if found in the quotation from the article Effect of P21-activated kinase 1 (PAK-1) inhibition on cancer cell growth, migration, and invasion.
Previous studies showed that PAK-1 mediated the growth of prostate PC-3 cell tumor xenografts in athymic nude mice as well as the transforming growth factor-β (TGFβ)-induced prostate cancer cell epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). These studies suggested that PAK-1 plays a major role in prostate cancer progression and is a potential target for prostate cancer therapy. PAK-1 has also been suggested to be involved in the early stages of breast cancer and may partially participate in the mechanisms mediating the transformation of mammary epithelial cells into mesenchymal malignant cells.
The Mechanisms by Which Ivermectin Works Against Cancer
Confidence in Ivermectin being effective for many cancer types also comes from understanding the specific mechanisms by which Ivermectin works against cancer. I cover this topic in detail in the article By How Many Different Mechanisms Does Ivermectin Fight Cancer?
Impacts of Ivermectin on Cancer
The following are how Ivermectin works against cancer.
Impact #1: Inhibiting Proliferation of Tumor Cells
Recently, ivermectin has been reported to inhibit the proliferation of several tumor cells by regulating multiple signaling pathways.
The Ivermectin blocking of PAK1 proteins, aka activated kinase, is a reason for this.
The instrumentality of PAK1 in cancer growth is explained in the following quotation from the article Ivermectin: enigmatic multifaceted ‘wonder’ drug continues to surprise and exceed expectations.
Impact #2: Inhibiting Metastasis
Ivermectin has powerful antitumor effects, including the inhibition of proliferation, metastasis, and angiogenic activity, in a variety of cancer cells.
Metastasis is how cancer spreads, and I cover this in detail in the article How Does Metastasis Work in the Body?
Impact #3: Promoting Apoptosis & Pyropoptsis
ivermectin promotes programmed cancer cell death, including apoptosis, autophagy, and pyropoptosis. Ivermectin induces apoptosis and autophagy is mutually regulated. Second, IVM seems to induce mixed cell death in tumor cells, which is also a controversial issue
A significant issue with the dysfunction of cancer is that the cancerous cells refuse instructions from the immune system to commit suicide -- or what is scientifically referred to as apoptosis. I cover apoptosis in the article How Ivermectin Improves Cancer Prevention and Treatment Through Improving Apoptosis or Programmed Cell Death.
Pyropoptosis is a type of apoptosis that is caused by inflammation.
Impact #4: Promoting Autophagy
Deng found that IVM could activate the nuclear translocation of TFE3 and induce autophagy-dependent cell death by dephosphorylation of TFE3 (Ser321) in SK-MEL-28 melanoma cells.
Autophagy clears away cells and recycles them. Different things can trigger more autophagy. I cover autophagy in the article Is Autophagy Effective Against Cancer?
Impact #5: Inhibit Cancer Cell Proliferation Through Inhibiting YAP1 Activity
Lung cancer has the highest morbidity and mortality among cancers. Nishio found that IVM could significantly inhibit the proliferation of H1299 lung cancer cells by inhibiting YAP1 activity.
Conclusion
There is ample evidence that Ivermectin is helpful against many different types of cancers. It is unlikely that these are the only cancers for which Ivermectin is effective, but the studies we have found so far show that Ivermectin works to combat and prevent it. Ivermectin is an immuno-modulator, so it has beneficial effects not only for cancer -- as one of the mechanisms of how Ivermectin works is improving the immune system, which means it improves the immune system against cancer and other diseases.
Regarding the dosage and sourcing of Ivermectin, see the article On the Topic of Ivermectin Dosage and Sourcing.
Why Are Anti-Parasitic Drugs Effective Against Cancer?
To understand why this class of drugs works against cancer, see the article The Mechanism of How Anti-Parasitic Drugs Work to Mitigate Cancer.
About Our Ivermecting Testing Program and Recommended Ivermectin Source of Supply
- We performed pharmaceutical testing on Ivermectin to find a lower-cost version that also matched Merck's original Ivermectin in bioequivalence.
- You can read about the details of our Ivermectin testing in this article, Our Ivermectin Bioequivalence Testing.
- We got Summit Products to carry this version of Ivermectin, which passed our bioequivalence testing.