REVIEW article
Front. Pharmacol.
Sec. Pharmacology of Anti-Cancer Drugs
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fphar.2025.1617508
Melatonin: A Natural Guardian in Cancer Treatment
Provisionally accepted
- 1school of stomatology, Hainan Medical University, Haikou, China
- 2stomatology department, Hainan General Hospital, Haikou, Hainan Province, China
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Melatonin (MLT), a naturally occurring hormone produced by the pineal gland, exhibits significant anticancer effects. It has superior antioxidant,inhibit tumor cell proliferation, migration, angiogenesis-inhibiting, and tumor cell apoptosis-inducing functions. Mechanistically, melatonin inhibits tumor development through epigenetic regulation, metabolic reprogramming, immune micro-environment, and regulation of important signaling pathways (PI3K/AKT).In addition, MLT significantly enhances anticancer efficacy in combination with other anticancer drugs, such as cisplatin, 5-fluorouracil, and paclitaxel. However, the shortcomings of melatonin, such as its low bioavailability, rapid metabolism, and significant individual variation in secretion, have limited its clinical application in anticancer therapy. This limitation has been mitigated by targeted delivery and individualized therapy. Therefore, MLT may be a promising candidate for natural hormone therapy in the future.
Keywords: melatonin (MLT), Anticancer activity, antioxidant activity, Chemotherapy synergy, targeted delivery
Received: 24 Apr 2025; Accepted: 07 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Cao, Zhang, Chen, Li and Chen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Jingxin Chen, stomatology department, Hainan General Hospital, Haikou, 570311, Hainan Province, China
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