Do antidepressants cause, promote, or inhibit cancers?

https://doi.org/10.1016/0895-4356(95)00545-5Get rights and content

Abstract

Do antidepressants cause, promote, or inhibit cancers? Objective: To review all human and experimental studies that examined the association of antidepressants with cancer or the effect of antidepressants on neoplastic growth. Methods: A search was conducted of MEDLINE for relevant articles published in English between 1976 and 1993. Results: Four human studies and nine experimental models were found. The human studies showed a transiently statistically significant positive association between amitriptyline and liver cancer and a negative association with pancreatic cancer; and that the antidepressants amitriptyline, nortriptyline, desipramine, and phenelzine may increase risk of breast cancer. Results of the experimental studies differed depending on which antidepressants were examined and which model was used. Amitriptyline was found to promote tumour growth, fluoxetine and clomipramine were reported to be both tumour promoters and antineoplastic agents, and imipramine and citalopram both demonstrated antineoplastic properties. Conclusions: Further epidemiologic studies in humans are needed to determine which antidepressants cause, promote, or inhibit cancers.

References (43)

  • JN Eisen et al.

    The effect of antidepressants on immune function in mice

    Biol Psychiatry

    (1989)
  • MJ Massie et al.

    Depression and the cancer patient

    J Clin Psychiatry

    (1990)
  • BZ Locke et al.

    Prevalence of selected mental disorders

  • JL Shuster et al.

    Pros and cons of fluoxetine for the depressed cancer patient

    Oncology

    (1992)
  • LJ Brandes et al.

    Stimulation of malignant growth in rodents by antidepressant drugs at clinically relevant doses

    Cancer Res

    (1992)
  • L Hilakivi-Clarke et al.

    Neonatal antidepressant treatment promotes DMBA- induced mammary tumor growth

  • RA Bendele et al.

    Carcinogenicity studies of fluoxetine hydrochloride in rats and mice

    Cancer Res

    (1992)
  • WE Tucker

    Preclinical toxicology of bupropion: an overview

    J Clin Psychiatry

    (1983)
  • PMJ Tutton et al.

    Influence of inhibitors of serotonin uptake on intestinal epithelium and colorectal carcinomas

    Br J Cancer

    (1982)
  • T Tsuruo et al.

    Potentiation of chemotherapeutic effect of vincristine in vincristine resistant tumor bearing mice by calmodulin inhibitor clomipramine

    J Pharm Dyn

    (1983)
  • C Sauter

    Cytostatic activity of commonly used tricyclic antidepressants

    Oncology

    (1989)
  • Cited by (80)

    • Drug repositioning: Using psychotropic drugs for the treatment of glioma

      2022, Cancer Letters
      Citation Excerpt :

      In the following sections, we discuss the accumulated evidence supporting the therapeutic application of antidepressant drugs to the treatment of glioma. Imipramine is a tricyclic antidepressant (TCA) that is effective for the treatment of severe depression and acts by inhibiting the reuptake of serotonin and norepinephrine [48]. Recent studies have shown that imipramine treatment decreased cancer cell invasion and survival.

    • Prostate cancer and antidepressants: A nationwide population-based nested case-control study

      2018, Journal of Affective Disorders
      Citation Excerpt :

      Brandes et al. reported increased DNA synthesis in malignant cells stimulated by TCAs in rodents (Brandes et al., 1992). Steingart et al. suggested increased cancer risk due to suppression of immune function (Steingart and Cotterchio, 1995). Harlow et al. described elevations in levels of gonadotropins affected by changes in dopamine or norepinephrine in response to antidepressants (Harlow et al., 1998).

    • Inhibition of P-glycoprotein and Glutathione S-transferase-pi mediated resistance by fluoxetine in MCF-7/ADM cells

      2013, Biomedicine and Pharmacotherapy
      Citation Excerpt :

      FLX, as a new SSRI, has been used to treat depression effectively in clinical for a decade, as well as in cancer patients with depression. But there is a dispute on the relationship between FLX and cancer [16–18]. On one hand, clinically doses of FLX was reported to accelerate the growth of mammary tumors in rodents, and on the other, however, late studies revealed that FLX inhibits proliferation of several cancer cell lines, such as colon cancer, breast cancer, astrocytoma, lung cancer, neuroblastoma, and medulloblastoma, rhabdomyosarcoma cell lines.

    View all citing articles on Scopus
    View full text