Researcher Sees Possible Prozac Cancer Link

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Researcher Sees Possible Prozac Cancer Link

 

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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.

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.