Manuka honey could be an effective and safe alternative to chemotherapy, especially in women who have estrogen receptor–positive cancer. ER-positive breast cancer is the most common type, accounting for up to 80 percent of cases.
Researchers from the University of California Los Angeles tested the honey on mice, and so there’s no guarantee the results would be the same in people. But they report it significantly reduced tumor growth by up to 84 percent, much more than in untreated mice.
In higher concentrations, the honey slowed the cancer’s growth and reduced the signaling pathways that allow it to spread. It also induced apoptosis (cell death) in the breast cancer cells, and it seemed to target only the cancer and not healthy cells.