Fwd: SSRI's and Cancer

[Guest guest]

Hi everyone...

 

Here are two articles on SSRI's and their link to cancer...

 

Comments?

 

Misty

 

http://www..com

 

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

 

http://depression.about.com/library/weekly/aa032902.htm

 

SSRIs May Increase Cancer Risk

 

Researchers Speculate Possible Prozac-Cancer Link

 

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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Eli Lily's Prozac not only causes brain tumours, but also helps cancer germinate

 

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/science_medical/story.jsp?story=278505 -

 

SCIENTISTS FIND PROZAC 'LINK' TO BRAIN TUMOURS

 

By Steve Connor Science Editor

26 March 2002

 

Scientists have discovered that Prozac, the antidepressant taken by millions of

people around the world, may stimulate THE GROWTH OF BRAIN TUMOURS BY BLOCKING

THE BODY'S NATURAL ABILITY TO KILL CANCER CELLS.

 

An international team of researchers led by John Gordon, professor of immunology

at Birmingham University, found evidence to suggest CANCER CELLS CAN BE KILLED

BY " POSITIVE THINKING " , which could be blocked when people

take Prozac.

 

The study, to be published in the journal Blood next week, examined the effects

of Prozac and other antidepressants on a group of tumour cells growing in a test

tube. The researchers found that the drug prevented the cancer cells from

committing " suicide " , thereby leading to a more vigorous growth of the tumours.

 

Although an increased risk of cancer has not so far been detected in Prozac

patients, the latest findings could lead to a global re-evaluation of the drug's

long-term safety.

 

Prozac, a " happiness pill " that was first approved in the United States in 1987,

is widely used for the treatment of depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder

and bulimia nervosa. Doctors in Britain issue about three million prescriptions

for it each year and worldwide sales reached £1.8bn in 1999.

 

The scientists tested other SSRIs such as Paxil and Celexa and found they, too,

had the same effect in stimulating the growth of a type of tumour known as

Burkitt's lymphoma.

 

" An exciting property of serotonin is that it can tell some cells to

self-destruct. We have found that serotonin can get inside the lymphoma cells

and instruct them to commit suicide, thereby providing the potential for an

effective therapy, " Professor Gordon said.

 

The researchers found that Prozac blocked the entry of serotonin into the

test-tube tumour cells and therefore stopped them from committing suicide. That

raised the question of whether Prozac can do the same in the brains of people

taking the drug.

 

Further work is underway to test Prozac further in this field. In

particular, the scientists want to develop drugs that will mimic the

cancer-destroying feature of serotonin which is blocked by Prozac.

 

A spokeswoman for Eli Lilly, the manufacturer of Prozac, said that the research

is too new for the company to make a detailed response. " It's not something we

can directly comment on because we haven't been involved in it, " she said.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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