Abstract
Breast cancer is the most prevalent malignancy amongst women worldwide while ovarian cancer represents the leading cause of death among gynecological malignancies. Women suffering from these cancers displayed heightened rates of major depressive disorder, and antidepressant treatment with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) is frequently recommended. Recently, narrative reviews and meta-analyses showed increased recurrence risks and mortality rates in SSRI-treated women with breast and ovarian cancer. We therefore examined whether three commonly prescribed SSRIs, fluoxetine, sertraline and citalopram, affect proliferation or glucose uptake of human breast and ovarian cancer cell lines characterized by different malignancies and metastatic potential. SSRI treatment or serotonin stimulation with therapeutically relevant concentrations over various time periods revealed no consistent dose- or time-dependent effect on proliferation rates. A marginal, but significant increase in glucose uptake was observed in SK-OV-3 ovarian cancer cells upon fluoxetine or sertraline, but not citalopram treatment. In three breast cancer cell lines and in two additional ovarian cancer cell lines no significant effect of SSRIs on glucose uptake was observed. Our data suggest that the observed increase in recurrence- and mortality rates in SSRI-treated cancer patients is unlikely to be linked to antidepressant therapies.
Highlights
Breast cancer is the most prevalent malignancy amongst women worldwide while ovarian cancer represents the leading cause of death among gynecological malignancies
In the present study we demonstrate that the tested selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), fluoxetine, sertraline and citalopram, which are frequently recommended for treatment of cancer-associated Major depression disorder (MDD), did not augment cell proliferation to a relevant level in various human breast and ovarian cancer cell lines and had only marginal or no impact on cellular glucose uptake
Incubation with low doses of 5-HT and the three SSRIs was performed at concentrations of 10 nM, 100 nM, and 1000 nM, which are in range of clinically relevant serum concentrations, for 24 h, 48 h, and 72 h, respectively[31]
Summary
Breast cancer is the most prevalent malignancy amongst women worldwide while ovarian cancer represents the leading cause of death among gynecological malignancies. Women suffering from these cancers displayed heightened rates of major depressive disorder, and antidepressant treatment with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) is frequently recommended. Breast cancer is the most prevalent malignancy amongst women worldwide while ovarian cancer represents the leading cause of death among gynecological malignancies[5]. Recent publications indicate that women suffering from malignant diseases display signs of anxiety and depression at the time of diagnosis with a higher frequency when compared to male cancer patients. SSRIs are a suggested treatment option for breast cancer patients to counteract
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