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Prozac, Paxil or SSRI drugs as a possible cause for brain cancer

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Tuesday, March 26, 2002

 

 

Researcher Sees Possible Prozac Cancer Link

 

LONDON (Reuters) - Prozac and related antidepressants could in theory increase

the risk of brain cancer by preventing the body's innate ability to kill tumor

cells, a British researcher said Tuesday.

 

- 2002/03/26

 

 

 

 

 

 

Professor John Gordon of Birmingham University reported that Prozac and other

selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) encouraged growth of a type of

cancer called Burkitt's lymphoma in test-tube experiments. While there is no

evidence from clinical trials on people to back up the concerns, the finding is

likely to reopen controversy about the widespread use of the class of

antidepressants that first went on sale in the 1980s. Millions of people with

depression and anxiety have been prescribed the drugs, which have emerged as one

of the biggest sellers for the international pharmaceutical industry. Gordon,

whose findings were published in the online edition of the medical journal

Blood, said serotonin was a key driver in stimulating apoptosis, a natural cell

" suicide " process for controlling the runaway growth that leads to cancer. SSRIs

such as Eli Lilly and Co.'s Prozac, Glaxo SmithKline Plc's Paxil and Lundbeck's

Celexa, however, appear to block this action. Drug company officials said there

was no evidence that their pills caused any increase of cancer in practice and

questioned whether the high doses used in Gordon's experiments may have been

responsible for the results. " These data are from an in vitro (test tube) study

and as such they cannot be extrapolated to a clinical setting with any degree of

certainty, " said Martin Sutton, a spokesman for GSK. Paxil, which is also known

as Seroxat, has overtaken Prozac as the world's best-selling SSRI with worldwide

sales last year of $2.7 billion.

 

 

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