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New insights into antimetastatic signaling pathways of melatonin in skeletomuscular sarcoma of childhood and adolescence.

Cancer metastasis reviews
March 1, 2020
Ko-Hsiu Lu et al. (6 authors)
Journal ArticleReviewHuman Study
Study Details

Study Goal

The researchers aimed to compile existing knowledge on the molecular mechanisms of melatonin's antimetastatic effects on skeletomuscular sarcomas, particularly in children and adolescents, and explore its potential as an adjuvant therapy.

Results Summary

Melatonin exhibits significant apoptotic, angiogenic, oncostatic, and antiproliferative effects on various cancer cells, particularly skeletomuscular sarcomas. It shows promise as an adjuvant therapy to enhance the antimetastatic effects of chemotherapeutic drugs.

Population

Children, teenagers, and young adults affected by skeletomuscular sarcomas (e.g., osteosarcoma and Ewing sarcoma).

Effective Dosage

Not specified

Duration

Not specified

Interactions

None mentioned

Extracted Claims (4)
InterventionDirectionEndpointPopulationDosageImpactClaim #
melatonin
decrease
various cancer cells
-
-
has significant apoptotic, angiogenic, oncostatic, and antiproliferative effects
#1
melatonin
decrease
skeletomuscular sarcoma
children, teenagers, and young adults
-
ability to inhibit
#2
melatonin
decrease
skeletomuscular sarcoma
childhood and during adolescence
-
antimetastatic actions
#3
melatonin as an adjuvant with chemotherapeutic drugs
increase
therapeutic actions
-
-
synergy and fortification of the antimetastatic effects
#4
Abstract

Melatonin is an indole produced by the pineal gland at night under normal light or dark conditions, and its levels, which are higher in children than in adults, begin to decrease prior to the onset of puberty and continue to decline thereafter. Apart from circadian regulatory actions, melatonin has significant apoptotic, angiogenic, oncostatic, and antiproliferative effects on various cancer cells. Particularly, the ability of melatonin to inhibit skeletomuscular sarcoma, which most commonly affects children, teenagers, and young adults, is substantial. In the past few decades, the vast majority of references have focused on the concept of epithelial-mesenchymal transition involvement in invasion and migration to allow carcinoma cells to dissociate from each other and to degrade the extracellular matrix. Recently, researchers have applied this idea to sarcoma cells of mesenchymal origin, e.g., osteosarcoma and Ewing sarcoma, with their ability to initiate the invasion-metastasis cascade. Similarly, interest of the effects of melatonin has shifted from carcinomas to sarcomas. Herein, in this state-of-the-art review, we compiled the knowledge related to the molecular mechanism of antimetastatic actions of melatonin on skeletomuscular sarcoma as in childhood and during adolescence. Utilization of melatonin as an adjuvant with chemotherapeutic drugs for synergy and fortification of the antimetastatic effects for the reinforcement of therapeutic actions are considered.

Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)
AdolescentAnimalsBone NeoplasmsChildHumansMelatoninMuscle NeoplasmsNeoplasm InvasivenessNeoplasm MetastasisSignal Transduction
Study Links
Quality Scores
SafetyNot Assessed
Efficacy85/10
Quality75/10
Citation Metrics
Total Citations22
Citations/Year4.4
Relative Citation Ratio1.65
NIH Percentile68.5%
Research Impact Scores
APT Score0.25
Weight Score1.18
Normalized Score0.69
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