Therapeutic Application of Melatonin in the Treatment of Melanoma: A Review

Abstract

Melanoma is an aggressive type of skin cancer, which is responsible for more deaths than nonmelanoma skin cancers. Therapeutic strategies include targeted therapy, biochemotherapy, immunotherapy, photodynamic therapy, chemotherapy, and surgical resection. Depending on the clinical stage, single or combination therapy may be used to prevent and treat cancer. Due to resistance development during treatment courses, the efficacy of mentioned therapies can be reduced. In addition to resistance, these treatments have serious side effects for melanoma patients. According to available reports, melatonin, a pineal indolamine with a wide spectrum of biological potentials, has anticancer features. Furthermore, melatonin could protect against chemotherapy- and radiation- induced adverse events and can sensitize cancer cells to therapy. The present review discusses the therapeutic application of melatonin in the treatment of melanoma. This review was carried out in PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus databases comprising the date of publication period from January 1976 to March 2021.