AN OVERVIEW ON CANCER CHRONOTHERAPY

Abstract

The circadian clock is a complex biological circuitry that controls the daily rhythm of functions such as sleep, body temperature, and digestion. The master “clock” is an area in the brain that senses environmental cues (such as light) and communicates information to secondary clocks in other organs. The breaking of circadian tolerance or disbalance in the circadian clock results in the outbreak of several diseases. The prime factors that play in a disbalance circadian clock are artificial light during day or night, unbalanced diet, work-life balance, and unbalanced lifestyle. Defects or disruption in normal circadian functioning and altered levels of clock gene expressions can increase the risk of prostate cancers, breast cancers, ovarian cancers, colorectal cancers, endometrial cancers, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, pancreatic cancers, osteosarcomas, head and neck squamous cell carcinomas, acute myeloid leukemia, and hepatocellular carcinomas. Chronotherapy for cancer involves optimal timing of drug delivery based on individual circadian times, which can improve treatment tolerability and efficacy of anti-cancer medications.