Luigi di Bella

Luigi di Bella (July 17, 1912—July 1, 2003) was an Italian medical doctor and physiology professor. In the late 1990s, he created a treatment for cancer that precipitated an international controversy.

Di Bella was born in Linguaglossa, Sicily. He studied medicine at Bari University, and worked as an army doctor in Greece. In 1948, he became a professor of physiology at the University of Modena.

During the late 1990s, di Bella developed a cocktail of drugs, vitamins and hormones (Melatonin and Somatostatin) which he argued would be useful in fighting cancer. Following national exposure in 1997 and 1998, several cancer patients from around the world traveled to his clinic seeking access to a "miracle cure". Medical experts later found his treatment to be without scientific merit, although di Bella rejected their conclusions and argued that drug companies were conspiring against him.

Di Bella's work fomented of a political controversy in Italy. The centre-left government of Romano Prodi was skeptical of his research, while right-wing parties such as the AN supported him.