Increased survival time in brain glioblastomas by a radioneuroendocrine strategy with radiotherapy plus melatonin compared to radiotherapy alone
Abstract
The prognosis of brain glioblastoma is still very poor and the median survival time is generally less than 6 months. At present, no chemotherapy has appeared to influence its prognosis.
On the other hand, recent advances in brain tumor biology have suggested that brain tumor growth is at least in part under a neuroendocrine control, mainly realized by opioid peptides and pineal substances.
On this basis, we evaluated the influence of a concomitant administration of the pineal hormone melatonin (MLT) in patients with glioblastoma treated with radical or adjuvant radiotherapy (RT).
The study included 30 patients with glioblastoma, who were randomized to receive RT alone (60 Gy) or RT plus MLT (20 mg/daily orally) until disease progression.
Both the survival curve and the percent of survival at 1 year were significantly higher in patients treated with RT plus MLT than in those receiving RT alone (6/14 vs. 1/16). Moreover, RT or steroid therapy-related toxicities were lower in patients concomitantly treated with MLT.
This preliminary study suggests that a radioneuroendocrine approach with RT plus the pineal hormone MLT may prolong the survival time and improve the quality of life of patients affected by glioblastoma.
See also:
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- 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;
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