Melatonin supplementation to improve quality of life for elderly cancer patients

Abstract

The incidence of elderly population living with cancer increases. Maintaining or improving the quality of life (QoL) has become an important goal in the treatment of cancer disease and is even an endpoint in clinical trials. The elderly are underrepresented within these clinical trials and often undertreated. The aged population with cancer is very heterogeneous and has certain characteristics (comorbidities, vulnerability) making the management and assessment of QoL more complex in this population. Melatonin, a hormone secreted by the pineal gland, regulates various physiological functions and is involved in the initiation of sleep. With age, the secretion of melatonin decreases and thus disrupts circadian rhythm. Circadin® (a prolonged-release form of melatonin) is used in France in the treatment of primary insomnia in person over 55 years old and contributes to improvement of QoL. Melatonin also presents a potential interest in addition to chemotherapy in the treatment of cancer by reducing or preventing certain symptoms (e.g., fatigue, depression) that constitute essential components of QoL. In this context, it seems appropriate to study the impact of supplementation with melatonin during chemotherapy on QoL of elderly patients with metastatic cancer. *Correspondence to: Angeline GINZAC, 58, rue Montalembert, 63011 Clermont-Ferrand, France, Tel: +33 473278005; Fax: +33 473278029; E-mail: Angeline.ginzac@clermont.unicancer.fr