TRABALHO NOTURNO COMO FATOR DE RISCO NA CARCINOGêNESE

objectives: to identify the deregulation effects of the human body's circadian rhythms in night shift workers, as described by the scientific literature regarding night shift as a risk factor in carcinogenesis. methods: a descriptive study with qualitative and bibliographic approach was performed. data were collected from the virtual health library (vhl), medline, lilacs, scielo. data collection took place during february, march and april 2009 and after data collection, a pre-reading, selective reading followed by an interpretive reading was performed it should be noted that a lack of brazilian studies on the subject was found. for this reason we chose ten international studies, written in english, which were selected as reference; from them two studies emerge: night shift: risk factor and the effects of deregulation of the circadian rhythm: night shift and cancer. result: night shift may be a risk factor for the occurrence of endometrial, colon, breast cancer, demonstrated by epidemiological studies. in addition, changes in the circadian rhythm of light exposure at night may be a factor in many diseases such as gastric, cardiovascular, sleep disorders and cancer. the deregulation of circadian rhythms can disrupt the delicate balance between factors that promote cell division and inhibition. conclusion: the night shift can cause the appearance of various diseases due to deregulation of the circadian rhythm. thus, the work of the nurse can help in the development of work schedules that take into account workers adaptation to the shift, to minimize damage to health.