A Fisiofarmacologia da Melatonina no Desenvolvimento e Terapêutica do Câncer.

Today, one of the pathologies with the highest mortality and morbidity rates prevalent worldwide is cancer, one of the greatest public health challenges in Brazil and worldwide. Melatonin is a natural sleep regulating hormone produced endogenously in the body and secreted mainly by the pineal gland. Common effects have several intrinsic relationships in the pathophysiological mechanism of the development of cell neoplasms. This article is a bibliographic review based on the online medical literature available in the Public Medline database (PUBMED) and in the database of the brazilian Virtual Health Library (VHL), where the health descriptors "Melatonin" and "Cancer" were applied. During the research, the three main themes were: the pathophysiology of cancer, the pharmacology of melatonin and the antineoplastic actions of this hormone in the body. Briefly, we have grouped these antitumor actions into 5 major areas: antioxidant effect, antiproliferative effect, immunomodulatory effect, potential as a chemoradiotherapeutic adjunct and potential as a biological marker. In summary, therefore, our research seeks to highlight the importance of inserting this natural hormone in dense scientific research that must be carried out in order to benefit not only cancer patients but also humanity in general. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]