Breast cancer is the principle cause of death among women worldwide. In this study, we investigated the anti-tumor potential
of lycopene (Lyco) alone or combined with melatonin (Lyco + Mel) for 120 days against a single oral dose of (50 mg/kg B.W.)
7,12-dimethylbenz(
a)anthracene (DMBA)-induced oxidative stress and mammary carcinogenesis in female rats. The treatment protocol started from
the day immediately after DMBA administration. Results obtained indicated that there was an elevation in the levels of malondialdhyde
and nitric oxide in serum and breast tissues of DMBA injected rats. The combined treatment (Lyco + Mel) group showed a potential
reduction of these parameters more than lyco individually. The activities of SOD, CAT, and GPx were found to be significantly
high than lyco alone treated rats. In DMBA group a negative significant correlation between weight and serum nitric oxide
(
r = −0.59), and a positive significant correlation between NO and MDA (
r = 0.81) was observed. Histopathological examination revealed the formation of tumor and angiogenesis in DMBA-induced rats
and these abnormal changes were ameliorated by combined treatment with Lyco + Mel. In conclusion, these results suggested
that supplementation of diet with lycopene with melatonin provided antioxidant defense with strong chemo preventive activity
against DMBA-induced mammary tumors.
Keywords DMBA - Lycopene - Melatonin - Breast cancer - Rats