Urinary melatonin-sulfate/cortisol ratio and the presence of prostate cancer: A case-control study

Abstract

The circadian-related hormones, melatonin and cortisol, have oncostatic and immunosuppressive properties. This study examined the relationship between these two biomarkers and the presence of prostate cancer. We measured their major metabolites in urine collected from 120 newly diagnosed prostate cancer patients and 240 age-matched controls from January 2011 to April 2014. Compared with patients with lower urinary melatonin-sulfate or melatonin-sulfate/cortisol (MT/C) ratio levels, those with above-median levels were significantly less likely to have prostate cancer (adjusted OR (aOR) = 0.59, 95% CI = 0.35–0.99; aOR = 0.46, 95% CI: 0.27–0.77) or advanced stage prostate cancer (aOR = 0.49, 95% CI = 0.26–0.89; aOR = 0.33, 95% CI = 0.17–0.62). The combined effect of both low MT/C ratios and PSA levels exceeding 10 ng/ml was an 8.82-fold greater likelihood of prostate cancer and a 32.06-fold greater likelihood of advanced stage prostate cancer, compared to those with both high MT/C ratios and PSA levels less than 10 ng/ml. In conclusion, patients with high melatonin-sulfate levels or a high MT/C ratio were less likely to have prostate cancer or advanced stage prostate. Besides, a finding of a low MT/C ratio combined with a PSA level exceeding 10 ng/ml showed the greatest potential in detecting prostate cancer and advanced stage prostate cancer.

Serum melatonin is inversely associated with matrix metalloproteinase‑9 in oral squamous cell carcinoma

“…Previous studies have reported that the disruption of blood melatonin level is associated with an increased risk of various types of cancer occurrence, including breast, prostate, ovarian and colon cancer (16)(17)(18)(19). The results of the present study demonstrated that serum melatonin level was significantly lower in patients with OSCC compared with healthy controls, which was consistent with results from previous studies reporting that low serum melatonin level was associated with an increased risk of breast (16), prostate (17), ovarian (18) or colon (19) cancer. In addition, median circulating melatonin concentration in the T DOI I (≤36.8 pg/ml) or negative lymph node metastasis (≤37.9 pg/ml) subgroups of patients with OSCC were similar to those obtained by Yang et al (16) in patients with breast cancer (≤39.5 pg/ml).…”

“…Melatonin was also recently discovered in serous cells of human salivary glands (15). Previous studies have demonstrated that melatonin is not only a hormone, but is also involved in tumor suppression in various types of cancer, including breast (16), prostate (17), ovarian (18), cervical (18), endometrial (18) and colon (19) cancer, through its anti-proliferative, pro-apoptotic and anti-angiogenic functions. The anti-metastatic role of melatonin in OSCC was mainly investigated using preclinical in vitro and in vivo models (20)(21)(22)(23).…”

Clinical significance of serum melatonin in predicting the severity of oral squamous cell carcinoma

“…The main findings of the current study were the following: i) The serum melatonin concentration was significantly lower in the patients with OSCC than in the healthy controls; ii) the melatonin concentration-based AUC may discriminate patients with OSCC with T-DOI II from healthy controls; iii) the melatonin concentration-based AUC may distinguish patients with nodal metastasis from those without nodal metastasis. Decreased circulating levels of melatonin have been associated with a high risk of breast (27,28), prostate (29), ovarian (30), or oral cancer (10)(11)(12)19,20,(31)(32)(33). In line with these observations, the findings of this study demonstrated that the serum melatonin concentrations were significantly lower in patients with OSCC compared to the healthy controls (18.2 vs. 47.6 pg/ml, P<0.001).…”

WOMEN IN CANCER THEMATIC REVIEW: Circadian rhythmicity and the influence of ‘clock’ genes on prostate cancer

“…Recent studies showed that patients with high melatonin levels or a high melatonin/cortisol ratio were less likely to develop CaP or experience CaP progression (Tai, et al 2016). Comparison of serum levels of melatonin in elderly men with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PIN), and localized CaP, as well as in normal adult men without CaP, demonstrated that melatonin induced significant circadian rhythms in normal men and patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) (enlarged prostate) and prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PIN) (considered to be a precursor for prostate cancer) but not in patients with CaP (Bartsch, et al 1985).…”