Cited by 187Circadian rhythm and melatoninCancer, Stress, Anesthesia, and Immune ResponseImpact of Light on Environment and Health

Circadian regulation of molecular, dietary, and metabolic signaling mechanisms of human breast cancer growth by the nocturnal melatonin signal and the consequences of its disruption by light at night: Circadian breast cancer control by melatonin

Open access
Blask, David E., Hill, Steven M., Dauchy, Robert T., Xiang, Shulin, Yuan, Lin, Duplessis, Tamika, Mao, Lulu, Dauchy, Erin +1 more·2011·Journal of Pineal Research

Abstract

This review article discusses recent work on the melatonin-mediated circadian regulation and integration of molecular, dietary, and metabolic signaling mechanisms involved in human breast cancer growth and the consequences of circadian disruption by exposure to light at night (LAN). The antiproliferative effects of the circadian melatonin signal are mediated through a major mechanism involving the activation of MT(1) melatonin receptors expressed in human breast cancer cell lines and xenografts. In estrogen receptor (ERα+) human breast cancer cells, melatonin suppresses both ERα mRNA expression and estrogen-induced transcriptional activity of the ERα via MT(1) -induced activation of G(αi2) signaling and reduction of 3',5'-cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) levels. Melatonin also regulates the transactivation of additional members of the steroid hormone/nuclear receptor super-family, enzymes involved in estrogen metabolism, expression/activation of telomerase, and the expression of core clock and clock-related genes. The anti-invasive/anti-metastatic actions of melatonin involve the blockade of p38 phosphorylation and the expression of matrix metalloproteinases. Melatonin also inhibits the growth of human breast cancer xenografts via another critical pathway involving MT(1) -mediated suppression of cAMP leading to blockade of linoleic acid uptake and its metabolism to the mitogenic signaling molecule 13-hydroxyoctadecadienoic acid (13-HODE). Down-regulation of 13-HODE reduces the activation of growth factor pathways supporting cell proliferation and survival. Experimental evidence in rats and humans indicating that LAN-induced circadian disruption of the nocturnal melatonin signal activates human breast cancer growth, metabolism, and signaling provides the strongest mechanistic support, thus far, for population and ecological studies demonstrating elevated breast cancer risk in night shift workers and other individuals increasingly exposed to LAN.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1111/j.1600-079x.2011.00888.x

Cites

72 of 72 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Insomnia is associated with deleterious consequences, including heightened fatigue and pain sensitivity, and reduced quality of life and immune functioning.

    “Insomnia has been associated with deleterious consequences, including heightened fatigue and pain sensitivity, and reduced quality of life and immune functioning. 7,8”

    From Digital Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia in Cancer Survivors: Protocol for a Pragmatic Clinical Trial (2024) · cites this paper as [8]

    The Introduction and Summary and Conclusions discuss circadian disruption, melatonin, and breast cancer growth or risk, not the consequences of insomnia described in the claim. Searches for insomnia, fatigue, pain sensitivity, quality of life, and immune functioning found no passage in our copy addressing those associations. No page numbers were provided for the indexed passages. (LLM, conf=0.76)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. [42]BLASK DE Reiter Rj The pineal: an oncostatic gland? The Pineal Gland 1984 253 284 Raven Press New York

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Blask, D. E., Hill, S. M., Dauchy, R. T., Xiang, S., Yuan, L., Duplessis, T., Mao, L., Dauchy, E., & Sauer, L. A.
Affiliations
Tulane University (US)
Corresponding author
Blask, David E.
Venue
Journal of Pineal Research
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2011-05-24
Volume
51
Issue
3
Pages
259-269
ISSN
0742-3098 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W1525288721
Cited by
187
References
72
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 10 · 2018: 14 · 2017: 15 · 2016: 14 · 2015: 15 · 2014: 17 · 2013: 21 · 2012: 29
FWCI
2.34
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Journal of Pineal Research (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
  • National Cancer Institute (R01 CA85408, R01CA085408, R01CA054152, R01CA076197)
  • National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (R21ES011659, R21ES11659)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Endocrine and Autonomic Systems › Circadian rhythm and melatonin
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Cancer, Stress, Anesthesia, and Immune Response
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Impact of Light on Environment and Health
Keywords
melatonin, circadian rhythm, breast cancer, light at night, MT1 receptor, estrogen receptor alpha, cAMP signaling, Gαi2, clock genes, telomerase, matrix metalloproteinases, p38 MAPK, 13-hydroxyoctadecadienoic acid, linoleic acid metabolism, night shift work, circadian rhythm disruption, breast cancer risk
MeSH terms
Breast Neoplasms, Circadian Rhythm, Diet, Female, Humans, Light, Melatonin, Neoplasm Invasiveness, Neoplasm Metastasis, Transcription, Genetic, Signal Transduction, Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic, Receptors, Cytoplasmic and Nuclear, Cell Proliferation

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review