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What Other Evidence is There? With the article that you just read, and the additional information below regarding cancer and antidepressants, something needs to be done. This is no time to squabble over who is right or who is wrong about antidepressants. First, a little more information about antidepressants and cancer. If you took a sigh of relief on the last page because you did not see Prozac, sorry, you need to read further. From a study conducted by the Department of Psychiatry, Baycrest Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. "Do all antidepressants cause, promote or inhibit cancers?" "Amitriptyline was found to promote tumor growth, fluoxetine (Prozac) and clomipramine were reported to be both tumor promoters and antineoplastic (checking the maturation and proliferation of malignant cells) agents." "Conclusion: Further epidemiologic studies in humans are needed to determine which antidepressants cause, promote or inhibit cancers." (1) From a clinical trial at Slone Epidemiology Unit, Boston University School of Medicine, Brookline, MA, USA. "In laboratory studies, some antidepressants caused increased growth of mammary tumors. The relation of use of these drugs to the development of breast cancer was examined in a hospital-based case control study." Their conclusion: "However, the estimate for regular SSRI use in the previous year, 1.8, was borderline statistical significance." "However, the results for SSRIs are not entirely reassuring." (2) From Department of Histopathology, Northern General Hospital, Herries Road, Sheffield S5 7AU, UK. "Male breast cancer is a rare condition with very poorly understood risk factors." "Concerns about an association between this group of drugs and breast cancer in women have previously raised and experimental evidence has suggested that these drugs could influence regulation of cellular proliferation acting through internal cellular messengers. Risk factors for the development of breast cancer are likely to be multifactorial, possibly more so in women given the complex physiological changes that occur in the female breast." "We suggest that assessment of any possible contribution that SSRI therapy may make to the development of breast cancer neoplasia may be more easily assessed in a male" (3) From the Division of Preventive Oncology, Cancer Care Ontario, Toronto, Canada. "Experimental and epidemiologic studies suggest that antidepressants medication use may be associated with breast cancer risk." "Use of tricyclic medications for greater than 2 years, however, may be associated with a twofold elevation, and use of paroxetine (Paxil) may be associated with a substantial increase in breast cancer risk." (4) March 26, 2002 Prozac causing tumor growth is not new. It was not just discovered in the year 2002. Number 1 above came out in 1995. There are additional clinical trials that were conducted years ago but for some reason, they have been deleted from the public record. These trials are titled;
(1) Journal Clinical Epidemiology 1995 Nov;48(11) : 1407-12
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