Would you explain the new Harvard study about the relation between antidepressants and risk of breast and ovarian cancer?

Cancel

Topic Tags:

High Risk, Breast Cancer High Risk, Antidepressants, High Risk Of Breast Cancer

Topic Tags:

High Risk X Breast Cancer High Risk X Antidepressants X High Risk Of Breast Cancer X

Done

Diseases:

Done

Answer Summary

Cancel

Expert Answers

dianeradfordmd (Physician - Surgery - Breast (Verified) ) - 08 / 26 / 2011

Your question relates to the paper by L Cosgrove and others published in April 2011, Antidepressants and breast and ovarian cancer risk: a review of the literature and researchers' financial associations with industry, PLoS One. 2011 Apr 6;6(4). It has been purported that antidepressants (ADs) may increase risk of breast and ovarian cancer, however results are mixed. The authors reviewed 61 articles published in English that assessed the relationship between AD use and cancer risk. Forty-one of those papers concluded no association, whereas 20 found a positive association. There was more likely to be a negative association if the investigators had financial ties with industry. Overall, the pooled odds ratio for the association between AD use and breast/ovarian cancer in the epidemiologic studies was 1.11, meaning there was a 1.11 fold greater chance of breast/ovarian cancer with AD use. They conclude that these findings warrant further study. They do not conclude that women taking ADs should be labeled as high-risk.
Comments on this article can be found on the Alliance for Human Research Protection websitehttp://www.ahrp.org/cms/content/view/795/9/. Cosgrove is quoted as saying, “I would want to consider nondrug treatment if I was mildly depressed, given our data.”

Shared Experiences

member3080 (Survivor (1 year)) - 08 / 27 / 2011

Thanks for this repsonse as well...again- not sure why this is not more widely known to the public...It is my understanding that you do not even have to take that many doses before one can be negatively effected...as data has also shown that for those people with mild depression, there is no benefit in taking the said antidepressants, this would seem especially wrong for psychiatrists and others to be promoting these drugs...This seems a bit scary to me, and patients taking these drugs seem to be treated as guinea pigs...shouldn't these studies be done PRIOR to people being allowed to take them?! Thanks again for your great responses. Rachel

Join Now to ask a follow-up question or share your experience!
We'll help guide and support you through treatments.

Similar Questions

What is the relation between Her2-neu and esophageal cancer?

Would you share some of the key conclusions you have drawn thus far in your study of unlikely cancer remissions?

When there is a high risk of breast/ovarian cancer in a family, what do you recommend: vigilance or action?

Is there anything new on the horizon for ovarian cancer detection. As a BRCA1 carrier, it would be nice if there were better options--other than oophorectomy.

Would you share about the risk factors of bladder cancer and how much is genetics versus the environment?

Note: All content on this site is informational and not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with questions regarding your health.

Note: Usernames have been made anonymous and profile images are not shown to protect the privacy of our members.

Flag Content

Please explain why you are flagging this content. Thank you.

Cancel

Thank you for flagging this content. We will look into it right away.

Give a 'Thank you' to

Cancel

Add Answer

1) Question:

2) Background Info (optional): What context or background information is relevant to this request?

Notes:
The more clear and thorough your request, the more likely you will receive support.
Many of our members are learning from this information or english might not be their first language. Please use standard english and spell out all words. For example, use 'you' instead of 'u'.

Thank you for sharing your question.

Our topic related experts will review the question and will either answer right away, find the right specialist, or save the question for the next relevant Q&A workshop. Responses will be sent to your email account as well as viewable at the following link on TalkAboutHealth:

We are finding other members now to join the chat.

Click here to start the chat.

Newsletters