According to the Skin Cancer Foundation, 87.110 Americans are expected to receive an invasive melanoma diagnosis in 2017 while 3.3 million Americans will be diagnosed with nonmelanoma skin cancer. [1]

To bring those figures home, one out of five of us will develop skin cancer sometime during our lifetime. That is one of us in a family of five. 

As dire as those statistics are, a peer-reviewed study points to a ray of home from dandelion root extract.  Health Benefits of Dandelion Root Extract 

Some of the health benefits of dandelion root powder include usage as a means to treat viral infections, as a digestive aid, to cleanse the blood, and to treat cancer.

Dandelion greens are also popular in salads and in healthy diets. The roots, when roasted make a decent coffee substitute.

As a treatment for chemoresistant melanoma, Dandelion Root shows much promise. Herbal supplement manufacturers have been increasing the production ten fold due to the benefits of dandelion root.

The study appeared in the Journal of Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine and was found on the US National Library of Medicine's site. [2]

The study address the role that dandelion extract plays in controlling drug-resistant human melanoma cells.

For most people with chemoresistant melanoma, the first medical treatment is to surgically remove the cancerous growths though that does not always prevent reoccurrence. This study showed how Dandelion Root Extract kills human melanoma cells without producing the toxic buildup. 

What Does This Mean for Patients with Melanoma? 

What that means is that Dandelion Root Extract caused human melanoma cells to die without causing the death of cells that were not cancerous. Chemotherapy is not always friendly to cells that are not cancerous. It can kill or damage cells that are perfectly healthy. 

The study produced Dandelion Root Extract by:

• Washing and finely chopping the roots.
• The root pulp was then pressed and filtered
• Made into a powder
• Reconstituted before use 

As the melanoma cells were treated, the study showed that with a 2.5 mg/ml concentration there was a 50 percent reduction in the vitality of the melanoma cells. With concentrations above 2.5 percent death of the melanoma cell occurred. [2]

Marketing and Facts about Melanoma

Melanoma remains the most devastating form of cancer for young adults. The chances of developing melanoma cancer increase as we age, but for people between age 25 and 29, chemoresistant melanoma ranks number one in occurrence. 

According to the US Census Bureau, there were 82.1 million Americans between the age of 18-44 during the 2010 census.

That number makes the marketing potential for Dandelion Root Extract to be quite large. Because of the number of positive health benefits associated with Dandelion Root Extract marketing can remain specific or broad-based. 

Dandelion Root Supplements

Supplements make it easy for people to include a specific dosage of Dandelion Root Extract in their diets. The benefit of a tablet or capsule is that the dose is measured. 

Marketing can occur on many levels.

• There is great potential to market Dandelion Root Extract to those people who already have cancer and who want a natural remedy that works with traditional medicine.
• There is also the market for those people who are at risk for melanoma and who want to do more to prevent the occurrence of this cancer. 
• Potential target markets also include people who have a decreased risk of developing melanoma but who want more protection than just OTC sunscreen products. 

When it comes to marketing  supplements, there is not only a large target market but markets that provide above average need for a product or supplement that helps address the number one form of cancer for young people. 

In addition, the study sourced here shows how great the potential for Dandelion Root capsules is and that alone makes this a viable medicinal. The dandelion root research will continue but its state as a hot commodity in the herbal supplement market might not!