Prolonged cyclic combination chemotherapy with cyclophosphamide, methotrexate and fluorouracil was evaluated as adjuvant treatment to radical mastectomy in primary breast cancer with positive axillary lymph nodes. After 27 months of study, treatment occurred in 24 per cent of 179 control patients and in 5.3 per cent of 207 women given combination chemotherapy (P less than 10(-6)), the advantage appearing statistically significant in all subgroups of patients. Patients with four or more positive axillary nodes had a higher per cent of relapses than those with fewer nodes. The initial new clinical manifestations occurred in distant sites in 81.5 per cent of relapsed patients. Long-term chemotherapy produced an acceptable toxicity, thus allowing the administration of a high percentage of drug dosage. These results should be considered with caution, since, at present, the effect of this therapy on survival and possible long-term side effects remain unknown.

No abstract

Numerous experimental data have documented the oncostatic properties of melatonin. In addition to its potential direct antitumor activity, melatonin has proved to modulate the effects of cancer chemotherapy, by enhancing its therapeutic efficacy and reducing its toxicity. The increase in chemotherapeutic efficacy by melatonin may depend on two main mechanisms, namely prevention of chemotherapy-induced lymphocyte damage and its antioxidant effect, which has been proved to amplify cytotoxic actions of the chemotherapeutic agents against cancer cells. However, the clinical results available at present with melatonin and chemotherapy in the treatment of human neoplasms are generally limited to the evaluation of 1-year survival in patients with very advanced disease. Thus, the present study was performed to assess the 5-year survival results in metastatic non-small cell lung cancer patients obtained with a chemotherapeutic regimen consisting of cisplatin and etoposide, with or without the concomitant administration of melatonin (20 mg/day orally in the evening). The study included 100 consecutive patients who were randomized to receive chemotherapy alone or chemotherapy and melatonin. Both the overall tumor regression rate and the 5-year survival results were significantly higher in patients concomitantly treated with melatonin. In particular, no patient treated with chemotherapy alone was alive after 2 years, whereas a 5-year survival was achieved in three of 49 (6%) patients treated with chemotherapy and melatonin. Moreover, chemotherapy was better tolerated in patients treated with melatonin. This study confirms, in a considerable number of patients and for a long follow-up period, the possibility to improve the efficacy of chemotherapy in terms of both survival and quality of life by a concomitant administration of melatonin. This suggests a new biochemotherapeutic strategy in the treatment of human neoplasms.

No abstract

The prognosis of brain glioblastoma is still very poor and the median survival time is generally less than 6 months. At present, no chemotherapy has appeared to influence its prognosis. On the other hand, recent advances in brain tumor biology have suggested that brain tumor growth is at least in part under a neuroendocrine control, mainly realized by opioid peptides and pineal substances. On this basis, we evaluated the influence of a concomitant administration of the pineal hormone melatonin (MLT) in patients with glioblastoma treated with radical or adjuvant radiotherapy (RT). The study included 30 patients with glioblastoma, who were randomized to receive RT alone (60 Gy) or RT plus MLT (20 mg/daily orally) until disease progression. Both the survival curve and the percent of survival at 1 year were significantly higher in patients treated with RT plus MLT than in those receiving RT alone (6/14 vs. 1/16). Moreover, RT or steroid therapy-related toxicities were lower in patients concomitantly treated with MLT. This preliminary study suggests that a radioneuroendocrine approach with RT plus the pineal hormone MLT may prolong the survival time and improve the quality of life of patients affected by glioblastoma.