Prozac, Luvox, Paxil, Zoloft, Celexa increase potential risk of brain cancer

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EAbstract of Original Journal Article

 

 

 

 

 

 

By Nancy Schimelpfening

 

Antidepressants in the class called SSRIs (Prozac, Luvox, Paxil, Zoloft, Celexa)

could potentially increase the risk for brain cancer, according to some

researchers.

 

Professor John Gordon of Birmingham University found that SSRIs encouraged the

growth of Burkitt's Lymphoma, a type of cancer which affects the lymphatic

system, in test tube experiments. It is speculated that if they can affect the

growth of this type of cancer they might also affect brain cancers in a similar

way.

 

The mechanism of action for this increased risk is by blocking the body's

natural ability to kill tumor cells. Gordon, whose results have been published

online in the journal Blood, says that serotonin is a key player in stimulating

apoptosis, a natural programmed cell death which brings into control runaway

cell growth. Without this process to rein in these renegade cells, cancer may

develop.

 

It is not known if these data can be extrapolated to mean that humans are at

increased risk for developing cancer. Thus far, no SSRI-cancer link has been

observed in clinical practice and drug company officials speculate that the high

dose used in Gordon's experiment may not provide a reliable indicator of what

happens in the patient.

 

The specific drugs investigated by Gordon were Prozac, Paxil and Celexa. Since

the early 80s, Prozac has been the leading antidepressant prescribed worldwide,

but was recently overtaken by Paxil with $2.7 billion in sales in 2001.

 

Reference:

 

5-Hydroxytryptamine drives apoptosis in biopsylike Burkitt lymphoma cells:

reversal by selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors.

Adamantios Serafeim, Gillian Grafton, Anita Chamba, Christopher D. Gregory,

Randy D. Blakely, Norman G. Bowery, Nicholas M. Barnes, and John Gordon.

Blood 2002 99: 2545-2553.

 

 

 

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