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Melatonin's Antineoplastic Potential Against Glioblastoma.

Cells
January 1, 1970
Enrico Moretti et al. (4 authors)
Journal ArticleResearch Support, Non-U.S. Gov'tReviewHuman Study
Study Details

Study Goal

The researchers aimed to evaluate the potential effects of melatonin, alone or in combination with anticancer drugs, against glioblastoma (GBM) and summarize its targets, intracellular pathways, and epigenetic activity.

Results Summary

The study found that melatonin demonstrated antineoplastic effects against GBM, improved patients' quality of life, and showed no significant adverse effects. However, clinical studies were limited in number and sample size.

Population

Glioblastoma (GBM) patients

Effective Dosage

Not specified

Duration

Not specified

Interactions

None mentioned

Extracted Claims (2)
InterventionDirectionEndpointPopulationDosageImpactClaim #
melatonin
increase
quality of life
GBM patients
-
improvement
#1
melatonin
no change
adverse effects
GBM patients
-
did not show significant adverse effects
#2
Abstract

Glioblastoma (GBM) is one of the most intransigent and aggressive brain tumors, and its treatment is extremely challenging and ineffective. To improve patients' expectancy and quality of life, new therapeutic approaches were investigated. Melatonin is an endogenous indoleamine with an incredible variety of properties. Due to evidence demonstrating melatonin's activity against several cancer hallmarks, there is growing interest in its use for preventing and treating cancer. In this review, we report on the potential effects of melatonin, alone or in combination with anticancer drugs, against GBM. We also summarize melatonin targets and/or the intracellular pathways involved. Moreover, we describe melatonin's epigenetic activity responsible for its antineoplastic effects. To date, there are too few clinical studies (involving a small number of patients) investigating the antineoplastic effects of melatonin against GBM. Nevertheless, these studies described improvement of GBM patients' quality of life and did not show significant adverse effects. In this review, we also report on studies regarding melatonin-like molecules with the tumor-suppressive properties of melatonin together with implemented pharmacokinetics. Melatonin effects and mechanisms of action against GBM require more research attention due to the unquestionably high potential of this multitasking indoleamine in clinical practice.

Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)
Antineoplastic AgentsCentral Nervous System DepressantsGlioblastomaHumansMelatoninQuality of Life
Study Links
Quality Scores
Safety80
Efficacy65/10
Quality70/10
Citation Metrics
Total Citations19
Citations/Year3.8
Relative Citation Ratio1.45
NIH Percentile63.9%
Research Impact Scores
APT Score0.25
Weight Score1.60
Normalized Score0.72
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