{"id":34692,"date":"2014-07-26T07:07:59","date_gmt":"2014-07-26T07:07:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4cd.e16.myftpupload.com\/?p=34692"},"modified":"2014-07-26T07:07:59","modified_gmt":"2014-07-26T07:07:59","slug":"bedtime-light-may-stop-cancer-drug-working","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/07\/bedtime-light-may-stop-cancer-drug-working\/","title":{"rendered":"Bedtime light ‘may stop cancer drug working’"},"content":{"rendered":"
Even low levels of light in bedrooms may stop breast cancer drugs from working, US researchers have warned.<\/p>\n
Animal tests showed light, equivalent to that from street lamps, could lead to tumours becoming resistant to the widely used drug Tamoxifen.<\/p>\n
The study, published in the journal Cancer Research, showed the light affected sleep hormones, which in turn altered cancer cell function.<\/p>\n
UK experts said it was an intriguing finding, but not proven in people.<\/p>\n
Tamoxifen has transformed the treatment of breast cancer by extending lives and increasing survival times.<\/p>\n
It stops the female hormone oestrogen fuelling the growth of tumours although the cancerous cells may eventually become resistant to the drug.<\/p>\n
Light<\/strong><\/p>\n Researchers at the Tulane University School of Medicine investigated the role of the body clock in Tamoxifen resistance.<\/p>\n They focused their research on the sleep-promoting hormone melatonin, which normally begins to rise in the evening and continues through the night, before falling away as dawn approaches.<\/p>\n However, light in the evening – such as from a smartphone, tablet or artificial lights – can lower melatonin levels.<\/p>\n Rats, with human breast cancer and treated with Tamoxifen, were left to sleep in a completely dark cage or one that had dim light.<\/p>\n The scientists showed that in dim light, melatonin levels were lower, the tumours were bigger and were resistant to Tamoxifen.<\/p>\n A second set of tests showed that giving those mice melatonin supplements kept Tamoxifen working and resulted in smaller tumours.<\/p>\n Dr Steven Hill told the BBC News website: “I’m not advocating people buy melatonin over the counter, there’s not enough evidence.<\/p>\n “But they could make sure they sleep in a room that is completely dark or they could wear eye-masks to let night-time melatonin rise and take Tamoxifen right before going to bed, that would be the easiest way to see if it works.”<\/p>\n