Lissoni P, Barni S, Cattaneo G, Tancini G, Esposti G, Esposti D, Fraschini F
Division of Radiation Oncology, San Gerardo Hospital, Monza, Italy.
Oncology. 1991;48(6):448-50. doi: 10.1159/000226978.
The pineal hormone melatonin (MLT) is able to exert an oncostatic action. Its possible use in the treatment of human tumors, however, has not yet been investigated. The present study was carried out to evaluate the effects of MLT in patients with metastatic solid tumors resistant to conventional therapies. The study included 54 patients, most of them were affected by lung cancer or colorectal carcinoma. MLT was given intramuscularly at a daily dose of 20 mg at 3.00 p.m. for 2 months; this induction phase was followed by a maintenance period at a dose of 10 mg orally in responder patients or in those with an improvement in performance status (PS). The clinical response was as follows: 1 partial response (cancer of pancreas), 2 minor responses (colon cancer and hepatocarcinoma) and 21 with stable disease. The remaining 30 patients rapidly progressed within the first 2 months of therapy. An evident improvement in PS was achieved in 18 of 54 (33%) cases. These results, by showing an apparent control of the neoplastic growth and an improvement in the quality of life in a reasonable number of cancer patients for whom no other standard therapy is available, would justify further clinical trials to better define the impact of MLT therapy on the survival and quality of life of untreatable advanced cancer patients.
松果体激素褪黑素（MLT）具有抑癌作用。然而，其在人类肿瘤治疗中的潜在应用尚未得到研究。本研究旨在评估MLT对常规治疗耐药的转移性实体瘤患者的疗效。该研究纳入了54例患者，其中大多数患有肺癌或结直肠癌。MLT于下午3点肌肉注射，每日剂量为20mg，持续2个月；在诱导期之后，对有反应的患者或那些体能状态（PS）有所改善的患者进行维持治疗，口服剂量为10mg。临床反应如下：1例部分缓解（胰腺癌），2例轻度缓解（结肠癌和肝癌），21例病情稳定。其余30例患者在治疗的前2个月内迅速进展。54例患者中有18例（33%）的PS有明显改善。这些结果表明，对于没有其他标准治疗方法的相当数量的癌症患者，MLT疗法能明显控制肿瘤生长并改善生活质量，这将为进一步的临床试验提供依据，以便更好地确定MLT疗法对无法治疗的晚期癌症患者的生存和生活质量的影响。
