Luteolin's positive inhibition of melanoma cell lines.

If not treated early, melanoma, a form of skin cancer, can lead to death in patients. Currently the few treatments for melanoma include surgical removal, chemotherapy, or immunotherapy without any treatment based on natural small molecules currently available. Luteolin (3′,4′,5,7-tetrahydroxyflavone) is a flavonoid that occurs in fruits, vegetables, and herbs. Research suggests that luteolin is effective against various forms of cancer by triggering apoptosis pathways. In addition, luteolin was consistently shown to have marginal cytotoxicity against normal cells. Thus, luteolin is currently being researched as a possible anticancer agent. This experiment was performed using an MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay to test cellular cell viability. Each sample was administered varying doses of luteolin by 2-fold serial dilution. These samples were later administered an MTT solution and scanned using an absorbance microplate reader to measure cell viability.The results of our study demonstrate that increased luteolin dosage limited melanoma cell survival rate by as much as 98% in vitro. Although promising, further research is needed to accept luteolin as a clinical drug. This experiment analyzes the effects of luteolin on the cell viability of malignant melanoma cells using an in vitro experiment to research alternative melanoma treatments and hopefully to help further cancer research as a whole.