There's new buzz in the medical community that bee venom could be a cure for cancer.

Melittin, when separated from other components in pure bee venom, is a harmless substance that can block the growth of tumors, keeping malignant cells from spreading. Melittin is the principal active component of apitoxin or bee venom.

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In a new cancer study, scientists extracted venom from bees, scorpions and snakes.

Pure venom can be fatal, but scientists found that when proteins and peptides were separated from melittinin, nanometer-sized particles of the substance went directly to cancer cells without harming healthy tissue.

Because the venom bees produce is not adequate enough amount for testing, scientists developed synthetic melittin in the lab for the tests. They then injected the melittin using nanotechnology to breast and melanoma cancer cells.

What they found was that melittin "are camouflaged from the immune system," meaning because the particles are so small, they attack the cancer cells and don't leak out to the immune system and other healthy cells.

Dipanjan Pan, lead scientist of the study, said bee venom particles seem to be effective in stopping cancer stem cells.

"That's what we are interested in -- those are the cells responsible for metastasizing and also responsible for having the cancer cells grow back. If we can target better using this technique, we potentially have a better cancer treatment," he said.

Although it may take a few years to have definite answers about the efficacy of the treatment, the nanotechnology could mean the end to painful chemotherapy.

Early historical texts revealed that as early as 14 BC, bee venom was used to treat baldness. Traditional Chinese medicine features frog venom as a treatment for cancer of the liver, lung, colon and pancreas.

On the other hand, Cuban alternative medicine doctors use scorpion venom to battle tumors in the brain.

The findings were presented by the researchers along with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign at the 248th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society in San Francisco.