Does melatonin affect the risk of breast cancer?
After reviewing the evidence, the AGNIR report on power frequency electromagnetic fields, melatonin and the risk of breast cancer concludes that melatonin can reduce the growth and development of cancers in some types of cancer cells and in animals, although it is not clear that this occurs in humans. Studies investigating whether melatonin levels are different in women who develop breast cancer and those who do not have so far produced inconclusive results. It is not clear that decreases in melatonin production are associated with increased breast cancer risk. Thus the report calls for more research on this topic. Recent publications The results of a large, prospective study by Schernhammer and Hankinson (2005) which examined the association between melatonin and the development of breast cancer in a cohort of female nurses was mentioned only briefly in the AGNIR report: a paper has now been published. In this nested case control study, the concentration of 6-sulfatoxymelatonin (aMT6s
