Chronome of urinary 6-sulfoxy-melatonin excretion, circulating CA125, cancer progression and therapeutic response.

The longitudinal follow-up of a patient with an advanced adenocarcinoma of the ovary sheds new light on the involvement of the pineal in carcinogenesis. The changes in the circadian MESOR of 6-sulfoxy-melatonin following a course of chemotherapy may differ in relation to the success or failure of treatment, yet the MESOR does not correlate with tumor burden assessed by circulating CA125. By contrast, the ratio of circaseptan-to-circadian amplitudes involving two chronome components correlates with the cancer marker. To that extent, the study reveals a critical about 7-day (circaseptan) aspect of the pineal involvement in cancer progression. This information could be exploited in designing schedules of melatonin administration to cancer patients.