Serotonin Blocker May Blunt Cancer Cell Suicide

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Serotonin Blocker May Blunt Cancer Cell " Suicide "

Reuters

 

Wednesday, March 27, 2002

 

 

LONDON, Mar 26 (Reuters Health) - Serotonin, a brain chemical that regulates

mood, has the capacity to cause certain cancer cells to self-destruct, a British

researcher showed on Tuesday. The findings could pave the way for new treatments

for a specific type of cancer called lymphoma.

 

The research also shows that antidepressant drugs like Prozac block the ability

of serotonin to trigger tumour cell death, raising the theoretical possibility

that the drugs could increase cancer risk. But Professor John Gordon of the

University of Birmingham, UK, who conducted the study, said patients should keep

taking their drugs since there is no evidence of any link in practice.

 

In test-tube experiments on a type of cancer called Burkitt's lymphoma, Gordon

and others found that serotonin caused cancerous cells to die off. Burkitt's

lymphoma normally forms in the neck or the stomach. It affects 2% of people with

AIDS and is most common in central Africa.

 

Through a series of experiments, the British researchers clarified the mechanism

by which serotonin enters lymphoma cells and triggers a mechanism called

apoptosis, or programmed cell death. The research is published in the online

edition of the medical journal Blood.

 

" Because we know the mechanism, we are now in a position to develop drug

analogues of serotonin that will do the same job but have better pharmacological

properties, " Gordon told Reuters.

 

The work also provides an intriguing insight into the way that " positive

thinking " associated with high serotonin levels may play a key part in effective

cancer care. The mechanism by which serotonin can get inside cancer cells and

tell them to commit suicide suggests there is a clear " dialogue " between the

brain and the immune system, he said.

 

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

all " substantially blocked " the cancer-killing effects of serotonin. The finding

reopens controversy about the widespread use of the class of antidepressants

called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) 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. They work by stopping the " reuptake, " or

reabsorption, of serotonin by brain cells.

 

" We've shown that, in the test-tube, the SSRIs stop the action of the serotonin

on the cancer cells. But it's nigh on impossible to extrapolate to what's

happening in the body, " Gordon told Reuters.

 

" We must stress the effects shown for SSRIs on cancer cells is indirect and

should cause no concern whatsoever to the many millions of people throughout the

world who are prescribed this class of antidepressants, " he added.

 

A spokesman for Britain's Department of Health said the research was at a very

early stage and no increased risk of cancer had been detected.

 

Drug company officials said they did not believe their pills caused any increase

in cancer and questioned whether the high doses used in Gordon's experiments may

have affected 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 GlaxoSmithKline.

 

 

 

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