RT Journal Article
T1 Melatonin, a Full Service Anti-Cancer Agent: Inhibition of Initiation, Progression and Metastasis.
A1 Reiter, Russel J
A1 Rosales-Corral, Sergio A
A1 Tan, Dun-Xian
A1 Acuna-Castroviejo, Dario
A1 Qin, Lilan
A1 Yang, Shun-Fa
A1 Xu, Kexin
K1 angiogenesis
K1 antioxidant
K1 apoptosis
K1 breast
K1 chemotherapy
K1 free radicals
K1 invasion
K1 ionizing radiation
K1 melatonin receptors
K1 molecular mechanisms
K1 prostate
AB There is highly credible evidence that melatonin mitigates cancer at the initiation, progression and metastasis phases. In many cases, the molecular mechanisms underpinning these inhibitory actions have been proposed. What is rather perplexing, however, is the large number of processes by which melatonin reportedly restrains cancer development and growth. These diverse actions suggest that what is being observed are merely epiphenomena of an underlying more fundamental action of melatonin that remains to be disclosed. Some of the arresting actions of melatonin on cancer are clearly membrane receptor-mediated while others are membrane receptor-independent and involve direct intracellular actions of this ubiquitously-distributed molecule. While the emphasis of melatonin/cancer research has been on the role of the indoleamine in restraining breast cancer, this is changing quickly with many cancer types having been shown to be susceptible to inhibition by melatonin. There are several facets of this research which could have immediate applications at the clinical level. Many studies have shown that melatonin's co-administration improves the sensitivity of cancers to inhibition by conventional drugs. Even more important are the findings that melatonin renders cancers previously totally resistant to treatment sensitive to these same therapies. Melatonin also inhibits molecular processes associated with metastasis by limiting the entrance of cancer cells into the vascular system and preventing them from establishing secondary growths at distant sites. This is of particular importance since cancer metastasis often significantly contributes to death of the patient. Another area that deserves additional consideration is related to the capacity of melatonin in reducing the toxic consequences of anti-cancer drugs while increasing their efficacy. Although this information has been available for more than a decade, it has not been adequately exploited at the clinical level. Even if the only beneficial actions of melatonin in cancer patients are its ability to attenuate acute and long-term drug toxicity, melatonin should be used to improve the physical wellbeing of the patients. The experimental findings, however, suggest that the advantages of using melatonin as a co-treatment with conventional cancer therapies would far exceed improvements in the wellbeing of the patients.
PB MDPI AG
YR 2017
FD 2017-04-06
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10668/11109
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10668/11109
LA en
NO Reiter RJ, Rosales-Corral SA, Tan DX, Acuna-Castroviejo D, Qin L, Yang SF, Xu K. Melatonin, a Full Service Anti-Cancer Agent: Inhibition of Initiation, Progression and Metastasis. Int J Mol Sci. 2017 Apr 17;18(4):843.
DS RISalud
RD Apr 11, 2025