This technology is a pharmaceutical composition for the prevention and treatment of melanoma that combines a butanol fraction of the aquatic plant water pennywort (Hydrocotyle umbellata) with 2-deoxy-D-glucose, a competitive inhibitor of glycolysis. The fraction contains glucopyranoside-based compounds as indicator substances, and the technology also includes health functional food compositions for the prevention and improvement of melanoma using the same formulation.
Conventional cytotoxic anticancer drugs exhibit high toxicity to normal cells, while targeted therapies are limited by narrow application ranges or drug resistance, and immunotherapies can cause side effects where overactive immune responses attack healthy tissue. Although metabolic anticancer drugs targeting cancer cell energy metabolism have emerged as an alternative, some cancer cells utilize both glycolysis and oxidative phosphorylation, making it difficult to sufficiently inhibit growth with a glycolysis inhibitor alone.
This technology leverages the fact that the water pennywort butanol fraction inhibits cancer cell growth and proliferation without affecting normal cell metabolism. When combined with 2-deoxy-D-glucose—a glucose analog that blocks glycolysis and reduces ATP production—both pathways are simultaneously inhibited, creating a synergistic anticancer effect. The fraction can be standardized using indicator compounds for quality control. Applicable to melanoma treatments, anticancer adjuvants, and health functional foods for skin cancer prevention, this natural fraction derived from medicinal herbs cuts off cancer cell energy supplies through a dual mechanism, reducing the burden on normal cells compared to existing treatments.
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