Towards rational and evidence-based use of melatonin in prostate cancer prevention and treatment

• Published in: Journal of pineal research Vol. 43; no. 1; pp. 1 - 9
• Main Author: Shiu, Stephen Y. W.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.08.2007; Blackwell
• Subjects: androgen; Biological and medical sciences; Cell Proliferation; chemoprevention; Evidence-Based Medicine - trends; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gynecology. Andrology. Obstetrics; Humans; Male; Male genital diseases; Medical sciences; melatonin; Melatonin - physiology; Melatonin - therapeutic use; MT1 receptor; Nephrology. Urinary tract diseases; p27Kip1; prostate cancer; prostate-specific antigen; Prostatic Neoplasms - drug therapy; Prostatic Neoplasms - pathology; Prostatic Neoplasms - prevention & control; Tumors; Tumors of the urinary system; Urinary tract. Prostate gland; Vertebrates: endocrinology; Melatonin; Urinary system disease; Prostate disease; Androgen; p27P; Malignant tumor; Prostate specific antigen; Prevention; Treatment; chemoprevention; Sex steroid hormone; Male genital diseases; Prostate cancer; MTI receptor; Pineal hormone; Biological receptor; prostate-specific antigen
• ISSN: 0742-3098; 1600-079X
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-079X.2007.00451.x

:  Prostate cancer is a public health problem of the elderly men. It has been estimated that one in six men will develop prostate cancer in his lifetime in the USA. There is thus a huge clinical demand for effective therapies for the prevention and treatment of the disease. Here, the scientific evidence supporting the effectiveness of melatonin in inhibiting the development and progression of prostate cancer is reviewed. The rational use of melatonin in prostate cancer prevention, stabilization of clinically localized favourable‐risk prostate cancer and palliative treatment of advanced or metastatic tumour is discussed within the context of the molecular pathogenesis of the disease.