Understanding the Mechanism of Action of Melatonin, Which Induces ROS Production in Cancer Cells Florido Ruiz, Javier Rodríguez Santana, César Martínez Ruiz, Laura López Rodríguez, Alba Acuña Castroviejo, Darío Rusanova Rusanova, Iryna Escames Rosa, Germaine Melatonin Reactive oxygen species Apoptosis Mitochondria Cancer Reactive oxygen species (ROS) constitute a group of highly reactive molecules that have evolved as regulators of important signaling pathways. In this context, tumor cells have an altered redox balance compared to normal cells, which can be targeted as an antitumoral therapy by ROS levels and by decreasing the capacity of the antioxidant system, leading to programmed cell death. Melatonin is of particular importance in the development of innovative cancer treatments due to its oncostatic impact and lack of adverse effects. Despite being widely recognized as a pro-oxidant molecule in tumor cells, the mechanism of action of melatonin remains unclear, which has hindered its use in clinical treatments. The current review aims to describe and clarify the proposed mechanism of action of melatonin inducing ROS production in cancer cells in order to propose future anti-neoplastic clinical applications. 2022-09-26T07:17:58Z 2022-09-26T07:17:58Z 2022-08-20 journal article Florido, J... [et al.]. Understanding the Mechanism of Action of Melatonin, Which Induces ROS Production in Cancer Cells. Antioxidants 2022, 11, 1621. [https://doi.org/10.3390/antiox11081621] https://hdl.handle.net/10481/76949 10.3390/antiox11081621 eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ open access Atribución 4.0 Internacional MDPI