Volume 11, Issue 20 of @Oncotarget reported that no study evaluated the influence of pinealectomy on oral cancer development.
Then, in the current study, they investigated the effects of pinealectomy on oral squamous cell carcinoma occurrence and progression in rats.
The melatonin suppression caused by the pinealectomy might contribute to oral cancer development by acting on ERK1/2 and p53 pathways and regulating tumor inflammation.
Dr. Daniel Galera Bernabé from The Psychoneuroimmunology Laboratory, Psychosomatic Research Center, Oral Oncology Center as well as The Department of Diagnosis and Surgery both at São Paulo State University (Unesp), School of Dentistry in São Paulo Brazil said, "Currently, head and neck cancer (HNC) is the 6th most incident, while only oral cancer affects about 350.000 people worldwide."
"Currently, head and neck cancer (HNC) is the 6th most incident, while only oral cancer affects about 350.000 people worldwide"
- Dr. Daniel Galera Bernabé, The Psychoneuroimmunology Laboratory, Psychosomatic Research Center, Oral Oncology Center & The Department of Diagnosis and Surgery both at São Paulo State University (Unesp), School of Dentistry
Currently, head and neck cancer (HNC) is the 6th most incident, while only oral cancer affects about 350.000 people worldwide
Studies have shown that melatonin, a major hormone of the pineal gland, may be used as adjuvant therapy for cancer treatment.
Moreover, melatonin may increase the activity of tumor suppressor genes and modulate the proliferation and apoptosis of tumor cells through the p53 and ERK signaling pathways.
Another recent study showed in an orthotopic model of oral cancer that melatonin administration reduced the p-ERK levels in the tumor microenvironment.
metastasis, as well as improve response of HNC patients to chemotherapy.
In vitro studies show that pineal hormone affects the motility of OSCC cell lines by inhibiting MMP-9 and VEGF transcription, which are molecules known to influence tumor progression.
The Bernabé Research Team concluded in their Oncotarget Research Article that Pinealectomy may be considered a useful method to evaluate the effects of melatonin suppression on cancer onset and progression in preclinical models due to the controlled laboratory conditions.
One limitation of their study is the absence of a pinealectomized group and treated with melatonin in order to evaluate whether the pineal hormone could reverse the pinealectomy effects on cancer onset and progression.
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DOI - https://doi.org/10.18632/oncotarget.27551
Full text - https://www.oncotarget.com/article/27551/text/
Correspondence to - Daniel Galera Bernabé - [email protected]
Keywords - melatonin, cancer, oral cancer, carcinogenesis, pineal gland
About Oncotarget
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Figure 1: Clinical features of OSCCs derived from 4NQO treatment in sham (A) and PNT rats (B). (A) Small irregular white plates and discrete ulcerative lesions. (B) Extensive ulcerative lesions displaying reddish and yellowish-white areas. Histopathological features of tongue tumors from sham (C and D) and PNT rats (E and F) (H&E staining). (C) Well-differentiated OSCC (black arrows) (original magnification ×250). (D) Tumor cells showing hyperchromatism and dyskeratosis (original magnification ×400). (E) Extensive well-differentiated OSCC (original magnification ×250). (F) Islands of well-differentiated tumor cells with nuclear pleomorphism and keratin pearls (original magnification ×400). Occurrence and progression of OSCC in sham and PNT animals. (G) Chi-square test revealed that PNT rats had a higher OSCC occurrence than sham rats. (H) Student's t-test showed that PNT group had increased tumor volume when compared to sham group. (I) PNT rats exhibited higher tumor thickness than sham-operated animals. (sham, n = 11; PNT, n = 12). Bars represent the mean ± SEM. *p < 0.05. The Figure 1E was spliced for joining together two images due to the extent of the tumor.
Melatonin treatment may inhibit cancer progression and metastasis, as well as improve response of HNC patients to chemotherapy.
In vitro studies show that pineal hormone affects the motility of OSCC cell lines by inhibiting MMP-9 and VEGF transcription, which are molecules known to influence tumor progression.
The Bernabé Research Team concluded in their Oncotarget Research Article that Pinealectomy may be considered a useful method to evaluate the effects of melatonin suppression on cancer onset and progression in preclinical models due to the controlled laboratory conditions.
One limitation of their study is the absence of a pinealectomized group and treated with melatonin in order to evaluate whether the pineal hormone could reverse the pinealectomy effects on cancer onset and progression.
Sign up for free Altmetric alerts about this article
DOI - https://doi.org/10.18632/oncotarget.27551
Full text - https://www.oncotarget.com/article/27551/text/
Correspondence to - Daniel Galera Bernabé - [email protected]
Keywords - melatonin, cancer, oral cancer, carcinogenesis, pineal gland
About Oncotarget
Oncotarget is a biweekly, peer-reviewed, open access biomedical journal covering research on all aspects of oncology.
To learn more about Oncotarget, please visit https://www.oncotarget.com or connect with:
SoundCloud - https://soundcloud.com/oncotarget
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/Oncotarget/
Twitter - https://twitter.com/oncotarget
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Pinterest - https://www.pinterest.com/oncotarget/
Reddit - https://www.reddit.com/user/Oncotarget/
Oncotarget is published by Impact Journals, LLC please visit http://www.ImpactJournals.com or connect with @ImpactJrnls
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[email protected]
18009220957x105
