SOME ANTIDEPRESSANTS MAY INCREASE RISK OF BREAST CANCER RETURN

SOME ANTIDEPRESSANTS MAY INCREASE RISK IF BREAST CANCER RETURN

About a half a million U.S. women take tamoxefin, a drug which cuts in half the chances of breast cancer recurrence. Of these, many also take antidepressants for hot flashes, due to the fact that hormone replacements are not considered wise after breast cancer. It has long been known that certain antidepressants affect the amount of tamoxefin’s active form available in the bloodstream. What was not known, however, was whether these antidepressants could also affect a woman’s risk of a cancer recurrence. A new study reported at a cancer conference in Florida on May 19, 2009 provided an answer to this questions.

The study reported that using certain antidepressants – including Prozac, Paxil and Zoloft – can almost completely cancel out any cancer-preventing benefit from tamoxefin.

The researchers did not see a greater cancer risk in women taking the antidepressants and tamoxefin may not be quite so harmful, the message is still the same; combining these particular antidepressants with tamoxefin may not be a good idea.

If you have had breast cancer in the past and are currently using tamoxefin, check with your doctor about whether any antidepressant is known to interfere with tamoxefin metabolism. If it is, ask about safer alternatives.

http://depression.about.com/b/209/06/02/some-antidepressants-may-increase-risk-of-brea...