ReviewEndocrine-related cancer2015
Melatonin: an inhibitor of breast cancer.
Review in Endocrine-related cancer, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 147 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
147 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 313 citations in OpenAlex.
- Sleep Traits to the Risk of Breast Cancer Disease Incidence, Adverse Progression and Mortality: Evidence From a Global Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.International journal of public health · 2025Pooled it
- Melatonin and health: an umbrella review of health outcomes and biological mechanisms of action.BMC medicine · 2018Pooled it
- Association Between Sleep Disorders and Breast Cancer: An Analysis Based on NHANES and Mendelian Randomization.World journal of oncology · 2026Article
- Reactive Oxygen Species in Breast Cancer: From Redox Dysregulation to ROS-Responsive Therapeutics.Cell biochemistry and function · 2026Review
- Nocturnal Melatonin Amplitude Collapse Is Associated with Age-Independent Convergence of Microbiome and Glymphatic Biomarkers.Current issues in molecular biology · 2026Article
- Inhibitory Effect of Melatonin on the Proliferation of Breast Cancer Cells MDA-MB-468 by Antioxidants Superoxide Dismutase and Glutathione Peroxidase.Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention : APJCP · 2026Article
- Molecular Mechanisms of Symptom Fluctuations in Malignant Tumor Patients: Stable by Day and Severe at Night.Journal of Cancer · 2026Review
- Tryptophan's Journey Through Pregnancy: The Role of Serotonin.International journal of tryptophan research : IJTR · 2026Review
- Unobtrusive inference of diurnal rhythms from smartphone data.NPJ digital medicine · 2025Review
- Melatonin and the Skin: Current Progress and Perspectives for Human Health.The Journal of investigative dermatology · 2025Review
- The clinical impact of chronopharmacology on current medicine.Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's archives of pharmacology · 2025Review
- Multifaceted roles of melatonin in oncology: an insight into its therapeutic potential in cancer management.Inflammopharmacology · 2025Review
- Outdoor Exposure to Artificial Light at Night and Breast Cancer Risk: A Case-Control Study Nested in the E3N-Generations Cohort.Environmental health perspectives · 2025Article
- Unobtrusive inference of circadian rhythms from smartphone data.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2025Article
- Article
- Night shift work and breast cancer risk - 2023 update of epidemiologic evidence.Journal of the National Cancer Center · 2025Review
- Adjuvant melatonin therapy during exercise prescription in breast cancer survivors on physical and anthropometric parameters, quality of life, and hormonal response. A randomized controlled trial.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2025Article
- Melatonin, an Antitumor Necrosis Factor Therapy.Journal of pineal research · 2025Review
- Melatonin modulates the gene expression of WEE1 kinase and clock genes: a crosstalk between the molecular clocks of the placenta?Frontiers in endocrinology · 2025Article
- Cancer Cells Show Higher Sensitivity to Melatonin-Tamoxifen Drug Conjugates than to Combination of Melatonin and Tamoxifen.ACS omega · 2024Article
87 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
12 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
The present review discusses recent work on melatonin-mediated circadian regulation, the metabolic and molecular signaling mechanisms that are involved in human breast cancer growth, and the associated consequences of circadian disruption by exposure to light at night (LEN). The anti-cancer actions of the circadian melatonin signal in human breast cancer cell lines and xenografts heavily involve MT1 receptor-mediated mechanisms. In estrogen receptor alpha (ERα)-positive human breast cancer, melatonin suppresses ERα mRNA expression and ERα transcriptional activity via the MT1 receptor. Melatonin also regulates the transactivation of other members of the nuclear receptor superfamily, estrogen-metabolizing enzymes, and the expression of core clock and clock-related genes. Furthermore, melatonin also suppresses tumor aerobic metabolism (the Warburg effect) and, subsequently, cell-signaling pathways critical to cell proliferation, cell survival, metastasis, and drug resistance. Melatonin demonstrates both cytostatic and cytotoxic activity in breast cancer cells that appears to be cell type-specific. Melatonin also possesses anti-invasive/anti-metastatic actions that involve multiple pathways, including inhibition of p38 MAPK and repression of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Studies have demonstrated that melatonin promotes genomic stability by inhibiting the expression of LINE-1 retrotransposons. Finally, research in animal and human models has indicated that LEN-induced disruption of the circadian nocturnal melatonin signal promotes the growth, metabolism, and signaling of human breast cancer and drives breast tumors to endocrine and chemotherapeutic resistance. These data provide the strongest understanding and support of the mechanisms that underpin the epidemiologic demonstration of elevated breast cancer risk in night-shift workers and other individuals who are increasingly exposed to LEN.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.