Inhibition of Dunning tumor growth by melatonin

Injections of the pineal hormone melatonin reduced growth and increased doubling time of the R3327H Dunning prostatic adenocarcinoma in the Copenhagen X Fisher rat. This occurred even though testosterone levels (50% of normal) were ostensibly high enough to maintain normal tumor growth. Melatonin ma...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe Journal of urology Vol. 139; no. 5; p. 1099
Main Authors Philo, R, Berkowitz, A S
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States 01.05.1988
Subjects
Adenocarcinoma - drug therapy
Animals
Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone - analysis
Male
Melatonin - therapeutic use
Prostatic Neoplasms - drug therapy
Rats
Testosterone - blood
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Summary:Injections of the pineal hormone melatonin reduced growth and increased doubling time of the R3327H Dunning prostatic adenocarcinoma in the Copenhagen X Fisher rat. This occurred even though testosterone levels (50% of normal) were ostensibly high enough to maintain normal tumor growth. Melatonin may act directly upon the conversion of testosterone to dihydrotestosterone to inhibit tumor growth. Alternatively, a more complicated mechanism may be involved since studies on MCF breast cancer tissue indicate an estrogen requirement for inhibition of growth by melatonin.
ISSN:0022-5347
DOI:10.1016/S0022-5347(17)42795-9