“…Today, many of the oncostatic properties of melatonin have been fairly well described (Vijayalaxmi et al, 2002), and evidence from experimental studies strongly suggests a link between melatonin and tumour suppression (Schernhammer and Hankinson, 2003). In vitro studies, although not entirely consistent (Panzer et al, 1998), give support to a reduction in the growth of malignant cells of the breast (Hill and Blask, 1988;Cos et al, 1996Cos et al, , 1998Cos et al, , 2002Mediavilla et al, 1999) and other tumour sites (Sze et al, 1993;Ying et al, 1993;Petranka et al, 1999;Shiu et al, 1999;Kanishi et al, 2000) by both pharmacological and physiologic doses of melatonin. In rodent models, pinealectomy boosts tumour growth (Tamarkin et al, 1981), whereas exogenous melatonin administration exerts anti-initiating (Musatov et al, 1999) and oncostatic activity (Anisimov et al, 1997Cini et al, 1998;Mocchegiani et al, 1999) in various chemically induced cancers.…”