Abstract
Melatonin is a natural substance ubiquitously distributed and present in almost all living species, from unicellular organisms to humans. Melatonin is synthesized not only in the pineal gland but also in most tissues in the body where it may have a cytoprotective function via paracrine or autocrine effects. Melatonin is effective in suppressing neoplastic growth in a variety of tumors. The mechanisms involved include antiproliferative effects via modulation of cell cycle, ability to induce apoptosis in cancer cells, anti-angiogenic and antimetastatic effects, anti-estrogenic activity, the capacity to decrease telomerase activity, immune modulation, and direct and indirect antioxidant effects. Besides these oncostatic properties, melatonin deserves to be considered in the treatment of cancer for two other reasons. First, because its hypnotic-chronobiotic properties, melatonin use that can allow the clinician to effectively address sleep disturbances, a major co-morbidity in cancer. Second, because melatonin’s anxiolytic and antidepressant effects, it has a possible application in two other major co-morbidities seen in cancer patients, i.e. depression and anxiety. This report summarizes the possible mechanisms involved in melatonin oncostasis and reviews what is known about the clinical application of melatonin as an adjuvant therapy in cancer patients.
Highlights
Melatonin is a ubiquitous methoxyindole present in most living species, including unicellular microorganisms, plants, most invertebrates and vertebrates and humans
Three are the major reasons why melatonin deserves to be considered in the treatment of cancer
In 10 patients, whose tumors were estrogen receptor positive, the nocturnal increase in plasma melatonin was much lower than that observed in 8 control subjects
Summary
Melatonin is a ubiquitous methoxyindole present in most living species, including unicellular microorganisms, plants, most invertebrates and vertebrates and humans. The first function of melatonin in phylogeny may have been cytoprotective [1]. Melatonin could be among the natural molecules that are effective in treating neoplastic malignancies. Despite a number of studies that have established the potentiality of melatonin as an adjuvant in the treatment of cancer melatonin’s importance on cancer therapy remains largely unappreciated. Several aspects of this subject have been reviewed elsewhere [2,3,4,5,6,7,8]. The aim of this report is to update the present knowledge on the possible mechanisms involved in melatonin oncostasis (Figure 1) and to assess what is known about the therapeutic application of melatonin in cancer patients
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