Phytomelatonin versus synthetic melatonin in cancer treatments

Melatonin is a molecule with a wide variety of interesting functions in animals. In mammals, it is synthesized by the pineal gland, and other tissues. This endocrine compound has been studied for use in anti-tumor treatments of various kinds. Melatonin seems to play an important role in multiple stages of tumor development, both in growth/proliferation and in apoptosis and metastasis, and through immunological regulation. While synthetic melatonin is usually used in these studies, this work looks at, an alternative, phytomelatonin, melatonin of plant origin. The interest of this proposal arose from the need to avoid the unwanted by-products present in synthetic melatonin preparations. The substitution of synthetic melatonin by phytomelatonin in medical treatments could also lead to substantial improvements in the results. The application of phytomelatonin in clinical studies is proposed as an objective.