INCREASED SURVIVAL-TIME IN BRAIN GLIOBLASTOMAS BY A RADIONEUROENDOCRINE STRATEGY WITH RADIOTHERAPY PLUS MELATONIN COMPARED TO RADIOTHERAPY ALONE

The prognosis of brain glioblastoma is still very poor and the median survival time is generally less than 6 months. At present, no chemothe rapy has appeared to influence its prognosis. On the other hand, recen t advances in brain tumor biology have suggested that brain tumor grow th is at least in part under a neuroendocrine control, mainly realized by opioid peptides and pineal substances. On this basis, we evaluated the influence of a concomitant administration of the pineal hormone m elatonin (MLT) in patients with glioblastoma treated with radical or a djuvant radiotherapy (RT). The study included 30 patients with gliobla stoma, who were randomized to receive RT alone (60 Gy) or RT plus MLT (20 mg/daily orally) until disease progression. Both the survival curv e and the percent of survival at 1 year were significantly higher in p atients treated with RT plus MLT than in those receiving RT alone (6/1 4 vs. 1/16). Moreover, RT or steroid therapy-related toxicities were l ower in patients concomitantly treated with MLT. This preliminary stud y suggests that a radioneuroendocrine approach with RT plus the pineal hormone MLT may prolong the survival time and improve the quality of life of patients affected by glioblastoma.