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Plasma melatonin and the hormone-dependency of human breast cancer

Published on Thursday, 02 April 2020

Abstract

We studied the 24-hour plasma melatonin profile in three groups of women: normal individuals, women with breast cancer, and women at high risk for breast cancer, to determine the relationship of plasma melatonin to this malignancy.

The mean daytime (nadir) and mean nighttime (peak) plasma levels for the normal subjects were 9.1 pg/mL and 70.9 pg/mL, respectively. The mean daytime and nighttime plasma levels, and the range of melatonin day to night differences for women with breast cancer and women at high risk for breast cancer were comparable to each other and to the normal subjects, with no statistically significant differences noted.

The patients with breast cancer demonstrated a striking correlation between the melatonin diurnal rhythm and the steroid receptor content of the primary tumor. Women with estrogen (ER) or progesterone (PR) receptor-positive tumors had a significantly lower mean plasma melatonin day to night difference than did patients with ER- or PR-negative tumors.

Further, a strong inverse correlation was observed between the plasma melatonin concentration and the quantities of ER and PR in the primary tumor: the lower the plasma melatonin concentration the greater the amount of either receptor in the primary tumor. Plasma melatonin did not correlate with tumor glucocorticoid receptor content or stage of breast cancer among these patients, or with menopausal status, age, parity, or the plasma levels of estrone, estradiol, progesterone, follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), or luteinizing hormone (LH) among all individuals studied. Plasma melatonin was also independent of the degree of risk for breast cancer among the high-risk patients.

These findings suggest an important relationship between the plasma melatonin diurnal rhythm and the hormone dependency of human breast cancer, and may have implications for both the prognosis and treatment of this malignancy.

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About this publication.

The Di Bella's Method: Use Melatonin, Retinoids (40mg per day Beta-Carotene, 10mg per day ATRA and 10mg per day Axerophthol palmitate), Estrogen therapy (Anastrozole 1 mg tab per day), pseudo-Metronomic Chemotherapy Cyclophosphamide and/or Hydroxyurea, Somatostatin/Octreotide analogues and/or derivatives with Cabergoline and/or Bromocriptine (together with others chemical compounds) in Breast Cancer:

- A retrospective observational clinical study of triple negative breast cancer cases treated with Di Bella Method: A preliminary data;

- The Synergism of Somatostatin, Melatonin, Vitamins Prolactin and Estrogen Inhibitors Increased Survival, Objective Response and Performance Status In 297 Cases of Breast Cancer;

- Complete objective response, stable for 5 years, with the Di Bella Method, of multiple-metastatic carcinoma of the breast;

- Evaluation of the safety and efficacy of the first-line treatment with somatostatin combined with melatonin, retinoids, vitamin D3, and low doses of cyclophosphamide in 20 cases of breast cancer: a preliminary report;

- The Di Bella Method (DBM) improved survival, objective response and performance status in a retrospective observational clinical study on 122 cases of breast cancer;

- Complete objective response to biological therapy of plurifocal breast carcinoma;

- The Di Bella Method (A Fixed Part - Melatonin tablets. From 30-40mg/day up to 200mg/day and more orally in patients with advanced stage of cancer disease and/or patients without respond to traditional treatments);

- Melatonin use in cancer patients have started in 1974, when melatonin prepared according to Prof. Di Bella’s formulation [...]. For 11 days was administered to the patient, admitted to the general medical ward at the Maggiore-Pizzardi Hospital in Bologna, very slowly (over approx. 8 hours) and intravenously administered 1000 mg of melatonin for 11 days. During the course of each day, the patient was intravenously administered 4 saline drips of 500 ml, each containing ten 25 mg bottles of freeze-dried melatonin, lasting 2 hours, totaling 1000 mg per day. No other drug of any kind was administered in order to ascertain the effect of the MLT without interference [...]. From Melatonin with adenosine solubilized in water and stabilized with glycine for oncological treatment - technical preparation, effectivity and clinical findings;

- About Melatonin - In vitro, review and in vivo publications;

- Publication: Melatonin anticancer effects: Review (from Di Bella's Foundation);

- Publication: Key aspects of melatonin physiology: 30 years of research (from Di Bella's Foundation);

- The Di Bella Method (A Fixed Part - Bromocriptine and/or Cabergoline);

- Prolactin inhibitors in oncology - In vitro, review and in vivo publications;

- The Di Bella Method (A Fixed Part - Cyclophosphamide 50mg tablets and/or Hydroxyurea 500mg tablets, one or two per day);

- The Di Bella Method (A Fixed Part - Somatostatin, Octreotide, Sandostatin LAR, analogues and/or derivatives);

- Somatostatin in oncology, the overlooked evidences - In vitro, review and in vivo publications;

- Publication, 2018 Jul: Over-Expression of GH/GHR in Breast Cancer and Oncosuppressor Role of Somatostatin as a Physiological Inhibitor (from Di Bella's Foundation);

- Publication, 2018 Sep: The over-expression of GH/GHR in tumour tissues with respect to healthy ones confirms its oncogenic role and the consequent oncosuppressor role of its physiological inhibitor, somatostatin: a review of the literature (from Di Bella's Foundation);

- Publication, 2019 Aug: The Entrapment of Somatostatin in a Lipid Formulation: Retarded Release and Free Radical Reactivity (from Di Bella's Foundation);

- Publication, 2019 Sep: Effects of Somatostatin and Vitamin C on the Fatty Acid Profile of Breast Cancer Cell Membranes (from Di Bella's Foundation);