| Affiliation: | 1. Radiology and Nuclear Medicine Department, School of Paramedical Sciences, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran;2. Department of Anatomy, School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran;3. Departments of Medical Physics and Radiology, Faculty of Paramedical Sciences, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran;4. Department of Anatomy, School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Infertility Department, Shariati Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran;5. Department of Medical Biotechnology, School of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran;6. Department of Anatomy and Pathology, School of Medicine, Ardabil University of Medical Sciences, Ardabil, Iran;7. Department of Anatomy, School of Medicine, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, Iran |
| Abstract: | Melatonin is a multifunctional hormone that has long been known for its antitumoral effects. An advantage of the application of melatonin in cancer therapy is its ability to differentially influence tumors from normal cells. In this review, the roles of melatonin adjuvant therapy in human cancer are discussed. Combination of melatonin with chemotherapy could provide synergistic antitumoral outcomes and resolve drug resistance in affected patients. This combination reduces the dosage for chemotherapeutic agents with the subsequent attenuation of side effects related to these drugs on normal cells around tumor and on healthy organs. The combination therapy increases the rate of survival and improves the quality of life in affected patients. Cancer cell viability is reduced after application of the combinational melatonin therapy. Melatonin does all these functions by adjusting the signals involved in cancer progression, re-establishing the dark/light circadian rhythm, and disrupting the redox system for cancer cells. To achieve effective therapeutic outcomes, melatonin concentration along with the time of incubation for this indoleamine needs to be adjusted. Importantly, a special focus is required to be made on choosing an appropriate chemotherapy agent for using in combination with melatonin. Because of different sensitivities of cancer cells for melatonin combination therapy, cancer-specific targeted therapy is also needed to be considered. For this review, the PubMed database was searched for relevant articles based on the quality of journals, the novelty of articles published by the journals, and the number of citations per year focusing only on human cancers. |
