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

April 24, 2003

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

SSRIs May Increase Cancer Risk

Researchers Speculate Possible Prozac-Cancer Link

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• Abstract 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.