The progress of studies on the relation between circadian rhythm disruption and cancer / 生物医学工程学杂志

ABSTRACT

Like functions of other organisms, most of the physiological and behavioral functions of human are characterized by day-night rhythms. The rhythms which exhibit approximately 24-hour periodicity are called as circadian rhythms. This review is to summarize the progress of studies on relation of circadian rhythum disruption and cancer. The research results from animal experiments and population-based epidemiological studies have showed that cancer is closly related to circadian rhythm. Although numrous studies have demonstrated the close relation between circadian rhythm disruption and cancer, the mechanism is not yet clear. The current studies attributed decreased level of melatonin secretion and disruption of clock genes expression to the mechanism of carcinogenesis of circadian rhythm disruption.