The Effect of Melatonin Intake on Survival of Patients with Breast Cancer—A Population-Based Registry Study

Abstract

Previous research has demonstrated the antitumoral effects of melatonin on breast cancer in both in vitro and in vivo studies. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether melatonin has a favorable effect on the survival of patients diagnosed with early breast cancer. This retrospective registry-based study included all patients diagnosed with breast cancer in Sweden between 2005 and 2015. Data were linked to the Swedish Prescribed Drug Registry and the Swedish Cause of Death Registry. A multivariate Cox regression model, including patient age, tumor size, tumor grade, ER status, HER2 status, nodal status and defined daily doses (DDDs) of melatonin, was used to analyze breast-cancer-specific survival as well as overall survival. Of the 37,075 included patients, 926 (2.5%) were prescribed melatonin, with a median DDD of 30. Melatonin was found to have a protective effect on breast-cancer-specific survival (BCSS) in the univariate analysis (HR: 0.736, 95% CI: 0.548–0.989, p = 0.042), but when adjusting for known prognostic factors in the multivariate analysis, this beneficial effect disappeared (HR: 1.037, 95% CI: 0.648–1.659, p = 0.879). Melatonin was not proven to have a favorable effect on the survival of patients diagnosed with early breast cancer in this retrospective registry study.