New study indicates Melatonin increases the effectiveness of 5FU

SandiaBuddy

A new study (abstract only in link) indicates melatonin increases the effectiveness of 5FU: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28819759

 

Once again, from the "for what it is worth" department, here is additional melatonin information from my rather disorganized notes:

Preliminary positive: 2017 article,
http://www.impactjournals.com/oncotarget/index.php?journal=oncotarget&page=article&op=view&path[]=16379&path[]=52418

20 mg melatonin plus chemo, improved the complete and partial remission (16.5 vs. 32.6%; RR = 1.95, 95% CI, 1.49-2.54; P < 0.00001) as well as 1-year survival rate (28.4 vs. 52.2%; RR = 1.90; 95% CI, 1.28-2.83; P = 0.001), and dramatically decreased radiochemotherapy-related side effects
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22271210

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3848957/

Older article, favorable: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3198018/
http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1534735408322846

Statistically insignificant 42% reduction: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2814533/

In trials combining MLT with chemotherapy, adjuvant MLT decreased 1-year mortality (RR = 0.60; 95% CI = 0.54-0.67) and improved outcomes of complete response, partial response, and stable disease; pooled RRs were 2.53 (1.36-4.71), 1.70 (1.37-2.12), and 1.15 (1.00-1.33), respectively. In these studies, MLT also significantly reduced asthenia, leucopenia, nausea and vomiting, hypotension, and thrombocytopenia. http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1534735411425484

darcher

That's an interesting finding

That's an interesting finding.  I wonder if maybe it has something to do with helping a person sleep more.  I've been using melatonin off and on and it does the trick on those stressful nights to get some sleep.  My dosage has been rather small at 5-10 mg depending on how wound up I am.  I'm on radiation and Xelodan which is the pill form of 5FU so it's in the same ballpark.  

SandiaBuddy

darcher said:

That's an interesting finding

That's an interesting finding.  I wonder if maybe it has something to do with helping a person sleep more.  I've been using melatonin off and on and it does the trick on those stressful nights to get some sleep.  My dosage has been rather small at 5-10 mg depending on how wound up I am.  I'm on radiation and Xelodan which is the pill form of 5FU so it's in the same ballpark.  

Mellow-tonin

I am on Xeloda/Capecitabine as well.  I take 10mg 30 minutes before bedtime and 10mg more the first time I get up at night--generally around 12:30pm.  I did build up to the 20mg dosage, but it seems to be helping with both sleep and side effects.  The benefit does not seem to be merely the better sleep.  I am no scientist, but the colon apparently has a lot of melatonin receptors and the extra melatonin may have some effect on the opportunity for tumors to grow.

Phoenix_66

SandiaBuddy said:

Mellow-tonin

I am on Xeloda/Capecitabine as well.  I take 10mg 30 minutes before bedtime and 10mg more the first time I get up at night--generally around 12:30pm.  I did build up to the 20mg dosage, but it seems to be helping with both sleep and side effects.  The benefit does not seem to be merely the better sleep.  I am no scientist, but the colon apparently has a lot of melatonin receptors and the extra melatonin may have some effect on the opportunity for tumors to grow.

Help with side effects

How did the melatonine help with your side effects specifically? I am definately interested in anything that might give some side effect relief.

SandiaBuddy

Phoenix_66 said:

Help with side effects

How did the melatonine help with your side effects specifically? I am definately interested in anything that might give some side effect relief.

Side effects

I am taking a number of supplements, so I am not certain I can narrow the benefit down to the melatonin, but it reduced the nueropathy and nausea, and seemed to give me more energy.  Sorry I cannot be really scientific about it.  Probably the best thing to do is clear it with your doctor and try it for a week and see what happens.

Joan M

Sounds like a good thing for

Sounds like a good thing for me to take.  I am having sleep problems anyway so have some in my cupboard already.

I want to start on the fishoil curcurim soon too - the pills are so darn big though, I don't know if I can swallow them.  May try the red krill oil and lood for smaller curcurim pills. 

What other supplements do you take?

SandiaBuddy

Joan M said:

Sounds like a good thing for

Sounds like a good thing for me to take.  I am having sleep problems anyway so have some in my cupboard already.

I want to start on the fishoil curcurim soon too - the pills are so darn big though, I don't know if I can swallow them.  May try the red krill oil and lood for smaller curcurim pills. 

What other supplements do you take?

other supplements

I have an older post here: https://csn.cancer.org/node/310395

Hopefully I will have time to update it before too long.

 

NHMike

Joan M said:

Sounds like a good thing for

Sounds like a good thing for me to take.  I am having sleep problems anyway so have some in my cupboard already.

I want to start on the fishoil curcurim soon too - the pills are so darn big though, I don't know if I can swallow them.  May try the red krill oil and lood for smaller curcurim pills. 

What other supplements do you take?

I bought 500 iu Vitamin D3 +

I bought 500 iu Vitamin D3 + Calcium + Magnesium yesterday and took one today. Also huge pills.