M. Cohen et al., HYPOTHESES - MELATONIN STEROID COMBINATION CONTRACEPTIVES WILL PREVENT BREAST-CANCER, Breast cancer research and treatment, 33(3), 1995, pp. 257-264
The use of the conventional combination oral contraceptives (containin
g ethinyl-estradiol and a progestin) is associated with reduced risk o
f ovarian and endometrial cancer. However, prolonged use of these pill
s before first term pregnancy apparently increases the risk of pre men
opausal breast cancer. We propose that the pineal gland hormone melato
nin, combined with a progestin, as a new and novel oral contraceptive
combination might prevent breast cancer in long term users. This hypot
hesis is based on the assumption that women have a propensity to devel
op breast cancer which correlates with number of ovulatory cycles over
their lifetime. In evolution, the phylogenetic point at which women b
ecame sensitive to breast cancer evolved at a transfer point of the me
chanism of ovulation from seasonal ovulation, which is still common in
many mammalian species, to the current human pattern of continuous ov
ulatory cycles. We suggest that melatonin/ovarian-steroid contraceptiv
e will restore the lost mechanism of endogenous anovulation, and thus,
by preventing continuous epithelial breast cell proliferation, will r
educe the risk of breast cancer in long-term users.