TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Scientists in the United States has warned that lights put on during the bedtime; despite of the brightness, may inhibits the cancer drugs from working. The study, published in the journal Cancer Research, showed the light affected sleep hormones, which in turn altered cancer cell function.
Research team at the Tulane University School of Medicine investigated the role of the body clock in Tamoxifen resistance by focusing on sleep-promoting hormone melatonin, on rats. The rats with human breast cancer and treated with Tamoxifen, were left to sleep in a completely dark cage or one that had dim light.
The scientists showed that in dim light, melatonin levels were lower, the tumours were bigger and were resistant to Tamoxifen.
A second set of tests showed that giving those mice melatonin supplements kept Tamoxifen working and resulted in smaller tumors.
"More research in people is needed before we know whether the same mechanisms are at work in people,” said Dr Samuel Godfery of Cancer Research UK.
Tamoximen is widely used to treat breast cancer by extending lives and increasing survival times.
BBC
