Melatonin Anti - Cancer Mechanisms

Melatonin Anti - Cancer Mechanisms


Melatonin can kill directly many different types of human tumor cells.  It is a naturally produced cytotoxin, which can induce tumor cell death (apoptosis).  In instances where the tumor has already established itself in the body, melatonin has been shown to inhibit the tumor’s growth rate.  Melatonin exhibits natural oncostatic activity and inhibits cancer cell growth.  In patients in whom cancer already has become a noticeable physical burden and produces overt symptoms, melatonin has been shown to alleviate numerous cancer symptoms  and to inhibit development of new tumor blood vessels (tumor angiogenesis),  which in turn inhibits the cancer from spreading further (metastasis).  Melatonin can retard tumor metabolism and development by lowering the body temperature;  it is a natural inducer of hypothermia. Furthermore, as an inducer of antioxidants  and itself a weak preventive antioxidant,  melatonin hinders tumor cells from participating in free radical damage to normal cells and consequently limits oxidative damage to DNA,  lipids,  amino acids, and proteins. 


In the unfortunate circumstance in which cancer has already overwhelmed the body’s innate cancer-fighting capabilities, including the anti-cancer activity of naturally produced melatonin (levels of which are reduced in most cancer patients), supplemental melatonin may be beneficial.  Melatonin plays a critical role in the host defense system against cancer’s progression by activating the cytokine system,  which exerts growth-inhibiting properties,  and by stimulating the cytotoxic activity of macrophages and monocytes. 



These days, most people are likely to associate melatonin with a hormone that helps people sleep better or prevents jet lag.  Few people realize that melatonin is a cancer-killing hormone  that can enhance the human immune system,  protect against the toxic side effects of chemotherapy  and radiation therapy,   and improve wound healing after cancer surgery.  Even fewer are aware of tons of ongoing clinical trials in which melatonin is being used to help cancer patients better manage their disease symptoms,  improve their quality of life, and even increase their survival rates. 


Although the evidence demonstrating melatonin’s anti-cancer effects  cannot be overstated, melatonin’s impact on cancer treatment remains largely unappreciated. This is likely because pharmaceutical companies have little to gain by advertising the anticancer efficacy of melatonin. In Europe, where melatonin is not even readily available, many clinical trials of melatonin have been conducted.  US pharmaceutical companies, however, have shown little interest in even hosting, let alone funding, such critically important and potentially lifesaving clinical trials.



Administration of supplemental melatonin has been shown to be beneficial even in the supportive care of advanced and end-stage cancer patients: it lessens tissue wasting and diminishes weight loss, fatigue, weakness, and depression; enhances immune function;  improves wound healing;   and improves quality of life and survival rates.  Furthermore, melatonin improves common symptoms found in both patients with advanced cancer and those undergoing chemotherapy; it counteracts anemia  and lymphocytopenia,  stimulates platelet production,  enhances appetite,  and diminishes cancer pain  (including bone pain) through its natural analgesic properties.  These are substantial benefits considering that approximately half of all patients diagnosed with cancer die just because of poor symptom management. 


It can also help combat some of the side effects of chemotherapy and radiation therapy, when given in high doses (one person was advised by a cancer specialist to give her 120-lb dog 20-40 mg each night at bedtime while undergoing radiation treatment).. Melatonin has been used with dogs to combat thunderstorm phobias and certain forms of alopecia (hair loss), and is being tried as a treatment for separation anxiety, so it is safe to use with dogs, at least in moderation.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16207291

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12823608


I GIVE LUCY 10MG ON THE NIGHTS SHE DOES NOT TAKE WORMWOOD/Artemisinin. Why alternating weeks? You can't give a strong antioxident like melatonin with wormwood. It would cancel out the wormwood/artemisinin.

Quotes from Dog Cancer Owners on Alternative Treatments and Results

"It is so helpful to see everyone's experiences with their pet's nasal cancer. Our 12-year old Honey Boy was diagnosed yesterday after a CT and scope at UCDavis VMTH. (excellent experience btw). The tumor is localized to his right nasal cavity. Organs, bloodwork etc are all in great shape and we took him in because of congested breathing through his nose and a blood spotting. Yunnan Bayio seems to be effective to stop the bleeding thus far. With our vet we've begun to determine a pain management plan with piroxicam for now. But my main reason for posting is that I am looking for different dog food recipies that I can make for his maximum nutrition (as well as our 2 other 12-year old dogs). It's clear nutrition is vital to his quality of life and I want to keep him as content and well-fed as possible."


"She is my baby ( MATSI) I dont have the heart to put her down, I just dont think she is ready. I have her on herbal medicines and believe this is why we have out lived the doctor's prognosis."


" I've had a dog go thru radiation in the past and although I think it may have helped some, in hind sight I think he suffered more than I originally thought. I think my concoction of alternative meds/nutritional supplements and herbal medications extended his life well beyond what the vets ever predicted. They gave him 3 months with radiation, he lived 1 1/2 yrs."


"my dog was diagnosed with nasal cancer 2 years ago on columbus day weekend and were told to take him home they did want to do surgery because it will come back and how far into the cavity it is, so we decided to find a specialist who will remove it and hope for the best by giving him grain free foods and holistic vitamins/ now we have him on vit d and fish oil and is still with us and approaching 2 years on Columbus day weeekend , there is hope for our beautiful pets"


"Great article. My 7 yr old springer was dignosed with lyphoma after exhibiting all of these nasal symptons. It took $3,500 for X-Ray, CT scan & rhinoscopy to get the diagnoses. After investing another $500 in chemo, which he reacted poorly to, we pulled back to go with 'comfort care' & we are happy we did. His personality has returned. we treat his symptons with low doses of prednizone & saline nasal spray. We understand & accept he may have a short time left but it is of higher quality than the life we experienced while undergoing treatments."


"I have a 9 year old Bouvier who was diagnosed with nasal cancer approximately 9 months ago. In hindsight, he has likely had it for over 2 years now (initial diagnosis was sinus infection). We elected not to pursue radiation or chemo; instead, he's on high doses of clindamycin plus meloxicam. He's still an active and happy dog, although the lump on his head is getting bigger. It's heartbreaking, but at the same time we feel lucky that the disease is progressing slowly."


"Our boy, had been treated for 2 years for allergies and had nosebleeds for 6 mo. before being diagnosed at age 7 by CT scan and biopsy. The Vet at a university teaching animal clinic told me he would not live more than 2 months without radiation. After some research, I decided against radiation/chemo and to provide comfort care. That was 12 months ago. Our boy just turned 8 and is healthy, happy and energetic today.
I tried steroids briefly but he had side effects. Now I give him Tramadol for pain control and will provide stronger pain meds if needed in the future. He eats organic foods; grazes on kibble, sweet potato or pumpkin mixed with salmon oil each evening, cottage cheese mixed with flaxseed oil each morning. These foods keep him eating, fight inflammation and so far seem to be working. He's not had a nose bleed since the biopsy although he does have a continuous runny nose.
Sure he has a golf ball sized growth on his nose and now has some small growths on his body, probably in lymph nodes, but these don't seem to bother him.
That initial fear and sadness has been replaced with happiness for every day he is with us because I know that for now, he is comfortable and happy too. I hope other families who face this diagnosis find this site and these comments as they are trying to decide what to do. I've never regretted the decision to provide comfort care over more conventional cancer treatments."


"Since I didn't think I had many options at the time I went to this Holistic Vet for her liver cancer and he put Ally on 2 herbal powders, Wei Qi Booster and Stasis Breaker. But about 3 days later she seemed to be feeling better, her stool was solid.
We are almost at a year on the meds and she's doing pretty well. She has her bad days here and there..good for a number of weeks then bad for few days. I can see her belly is distended from the tumor , and she's lost a lot of weight 65lb to 45lb. But runs around like a puppy when I take em to the park"

"Sounds like the holistic options gave you dog another wonderful year. I know of another person dealing with nasal cancer and treated it holistically and the dog lived another 14 months. Probably much longer than with surgery and chemo. I am a big believer in it as a option to expensive vet care."

"Do some research on Artemisinin. A research Doctor has done studies on it for humans and dogs. I know Yahoo groups has a forum on it. I tried it for my cancer dog and I swear she did live several months longer than was given her because of it. It's inexpensive and it can't hurt to try it."

"Meanwhile, I had already contacted a vet with considerable training and experience in both western and alternative veterinary medicine. He suggested Chinese herbs and acupuncture in addition to the Prednisone. Neither treatment usually has significant adverse side effects. The Chinese herbs might give him 6 or 7 months of additional, high quality life. This was as good as all but the most aggressive, severe and risky chemotherapy. An added bonus was that the alternative treatments were a reasonable and doable cost.

After examining my dog, the doc prescribed three types of Chinese herbs for him. 

The Chinese herbs had odd, magical names- Stasis Breaker, Wei Qi Booster, and strangest of all- Stasis in the Mansion of the Blood. I fervently hoped they would indeed be magical.

He tolerated the Chinese herbs just fine. In fact, he quickly learned to love them as I gave them to him in small hamburger balls. He would come running when I would call, “Pills!” Later, he would search me out and whine when it was time for his pills.

He had mostly good days and just a few ‘not so good’ days. On good days, he was like his regular self, wanting to go to the beach to wade and ‘fish’ or cruise the main street of ‘his’ town checking out the people, dogs and activities. On not so good days, he seemed tired and napped a lot, but did not seem otherwise sick or in discomfort.

The Prednisone started to lose its effectiveness. The tumors mushroomed hugely. My vet increased the Chinese herbs dosage. The tumors began to shrink and then disappeared altogether! I was thrillingly amazed!

While I was very happy (as was Gregs), I didn’t fool myself that he was cured. I knew this was a remission. But, hey, it was truly wonderful."

"Now – at the age of 14 he developed an Mast Cell Tumour on his shoulder and it grew very rapidly. It was diagnosed as stage III and became large and ulcerated. I quickly put him on benadryl – 50mg/3 times a day, my vet prescribed 20 mg prednisone twice a day, chinese herbs – Stasis Breaker and Qi Builder, raw garlic, fish oil and absolutely no carbs or sugar. I have to say that after 2 weeks the mass has reduced at least 50 percent – no ulceration(perhaps the mini-tee shirt helps from him trying to lick it) And he is eating, swimming and doing great. I’ve been told to add IP6 and Transfer Factors supplements. I am curious if anyone has taken this “holistic” approach and what I can expect next."

"It has been remarkable how whenever he goes through a period of not eating for a few days, he sometimes starts to have trouble again limping from pain with the bone tumor leg. Once he resumes eating and is back on the Chinese Herbs, his pain seems to always go away again within a few days. This cycle has happened so many times, I am convinced this is more than any possible coincidence.

In November 2005 I took Chuck on the 2-year anniversary of his cancer diagnosis. The Vet was delighted to report that his lymph nodes felt fine, his heart sounded good, that she could still “hear” some blocked areas in his lungs, but that considering what he has been through and now approaching 14 years for a large breed – he was indeed a miracle – and still standing on all four legs. Update he lasted 3 years. "


"My dog, Foster, was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma last October. My vet (an Oncologist), gives him the herbs you are speaking about, plus other pain meds and accupuncture. Also I wrap his leg with the Bone Stasis herb mix mixed with vitamin E oil for 12 hours per day. He takes half of a Pepcid A/C twice a day for any stomach problems. Foster was given about 3-4 months to live and he is going on 6 months. He plays and runs with the other dogs! "




"My French Bulldog was diagnosed with malignant lymphoma now 5 months ago. I have refused chemotherapy, yet have given him a variety of supplements, a.o. multivitamines, cat’s claw, curcuma, artemisinine, fish oil and injections with mistletoe extract (frequently used by anthropologists in cases of cancer). He has lived already longer than the 2 month average given him. Now I shall start Chinese herbs on the advice of my vet (this shall replace the mistletoe).
The main reason for my response is that there should be given more publicity and naturally be more research done on the -positive- effects of alternative medication in cases of cancer, hence also my appreciation for this site."

" Especially since I have used these herbs for my boy dog, and he’s lived longer already than the vet thought. And I am now using them again for my girl dog, who was diagnosed with osteosarcoma last Thursday."

"Thank you for your personal experience. My Presa Canario now 9 yrs old was dxd with Osteosarcoma in the right eyebrow and down right side of nose last Sept 2010 was given 3 mos to live. Chemo and Rad was suggested but I refused and went holistic and now stasis breaker, she is still with me today and doing well July 2011"

"Look up herbs for cancer in dogs, or ask a holistic vet for "Stasis Breaker". Our lab w/ lipomas uses it, and it has kept him from getting more lipomas. It's mainly an anti-tumor treatment from Chinese medicine."

I hope you or a friend never have to face this type of challenge with your beloved pet, but if you do, and would like to try an alternative approach that has been nothing short of miraculous for us, then I encourage you to check this out. The Chinese Veterinary Herb web site has many different formulas for many different health conditions for large and small animals – and they are a LOT cheaper than pharmaceutical drugs and in our case – offered hope and success where western “mainstream” medicine had none. Your Veterinarian can consult with the TCVM Herbal website and get recommendations for a formula that might help your pet with a variety of conditions. These chinese herbs are only sold through vets. Your vet has to order them from that site.  Lucy is using Stasis Breaker (a tumor buster) and Wei Qi Booster (an immune booster) herbal powders that I put on her evening meal. The price will of course put you off because this medical industry marks up alot, but it does seem to work. And it's cheaper and easier than radiation or chemo.