Antidepressants linked to recurrent breast cancer

According to a new study by Medco Health Solutions, drugs prescribed for depression including fluoxetine, paroxetine and to a lesser extent sertaline can virtually wipe out the benefit tamoxifen provides.

Tamoxifen cuts the chances of breast cancer recurrence by half, but many patients take antidepressants for hot flashes as an alternative to hormone pills which are not considered safe after breast cancer.

It has long been thought that some antidepressants can lower the amount of tamoxifen’s active form in the bloodstream, but this study, which is the largest to look at the issue, confirms the drugs` interfering nature.

Scientists looked at 353 women taking tamoxifen plus other drugs that might interfere with it and 945 women taking tamoxifen alone.

The women were tested for second cancers in the following two years and the findings show breast cancer recurred in 7% of women on tamoxifen alone, but by 14% in women taking other drugs that could interfere.

The antidepressants paroxetine and fluoxetine were the most likely to increase the risk of recurrent breast cancer.

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