Trial reportPediatric blood & cancer2022
A randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial of the effectiveness of melatonin on neurocognition and sleep in survivors of childhood cancer.
Trial report in Pediatric blood & cancer, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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
7 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 7 citations in OpenAlex.
- Interventions for insomnia in cancer patients and survivors-a comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis.JNCI cancer spectrum · 2024Pooled it
- Infantile Cocktail of Erythropoietin and Melatonin Restores Gait in Adult Rats with Preterm Brain Injury.Developmental neuroscience · 2022Trial
- Plasma Melatonin Levels, Seasonal Variation, and Sleep Quality: A Stratified Analysis of Adults Aged 25-65 Years Using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and Actigraphy.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Article
- Prevalence and correlates of short and long sleep duration among majority-Hispanic young adult survivors of childhood cancer.Journal of cancer survivorship : research and practice · 2025Article
- Neuropsychological function in childhood cancer patients and adult survivors of childhood cancer.Journal of clinical and experimental neuropsychology · 2025Review
- Evaluating Sleep in Pediatric Cancer: A Scoping Review of Assessment Tools for Quality and Care.Cancer medicine · 2025Article
- Improving quality and quantity of life for childhood cancer survivors globally in the twenty-first century.Nature reviews. Clinical oncology · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
13 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundAdult survivors of childhood cancer are at risk of developing sleep and neurocognitive problems, yet few efficacious interventions exist targeting these prevalent late effects. Melatonin has known sleep-promoting effects; however, it has not been well studied among childhood cancer survivors.
methodSurvivors (n = 580; mean age = 33.5 years; 26 years post-diagnosis) from the St. Jude Lifetime Cohort were randomized (1:1) to a six-month double-blind placebo-controlled trial of 3 mg time-release melatonin within three strata (stratum 1: neurocognitive impairment only; stratum 2: neurocognitive and sleep impairment; stratum 3: sleep impairment only). Neurocognitive performance was assessed at baseline and post-intervention using standardized measures. Sleep was assessed via self-report and actigraphy. Independent sample t tests compared mean change scores from baseline to six months. Post-hoc analyses compared the prevalence of clinically significant treatment responders among melatonin and placebo conditions within and across strata.
resultsIntent-to-treat analyses revealed no statistically significant differences in neurocognitive performance or sleep from baseline to post-intervention. However, among survivors with neurocognitive impairment only, a larger proportion randomized to melatonin versus placebo demonstrated a treatment response for visuomotor speed (63% vs 41%, P = 0.02) and nonverbal reasoning (46% vs 28%, P = 0.04). Among survivors with sleep impairment only, a larger proportion treated with melatonin demonstrated a treatment response for shifting attention (44% vs 28%, P = 0.05), short-term memory (39% vs 19%, P = 0.01), and actigraphy-assessed sleep duration (47% vs 29%, P = 0.05).
conclusionMelatonin was not associated with improved neurocognitive performance or sleep in our intent-to-treat analyses; however, a subset of survivors demonstrated a clinically significant treatment response.
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Registered trials
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