Antidepressants and Cancer Risk Assessment

The potential interplay between antidepressant use and cancer risk involves both pharmacological and epidemiological dimensions. On one hand, laboratory investigations have explored whether widely prescribed psychotropic agents can influence tumour cell survival, proliferation and apoptosis. On the other, population-based studies have examined associations between long-term antidepressant exposure and cancer incidence at a range of organ sites. These dual strands of inquiry—mechanistic exploration and risk assessment—shape an emerging view of antidepressants not only as mood-regulating agents but also as modulators of oncological pathways. Advances in cellular and animal models suggest that drugs originally designed to target neurotransmitter systems may affect signalling cascades critical to tumour growth, cell cycle regulation and drug resistance. Meanwhile, large-scale cohort and nested case-control studies continue to refine estimates of cancer risk among users of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, tricyclic agents and other antidepressant classes. Together, this body of work highlights opportunities for drug repurposing, potential adjuvant roles in cancer therapy and the need for ongoing surveillance of cancer outcomes in patients receiving long-term antidepressant treatment.

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Antidepressants and Cancer Risk Assessment publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in antidepressants and cancer risk assessment across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs): A class of antidepressants that increase serotonin availability by blocking its reabsorption into presynaptic neurons.

Drug repurposing: The strategy of investigating existing medications for new therapeutic indications beyond their original clinical use.

IC₅₀ (half-maximal inhibitory concentration): The concentration of a drug required to reduce a given biological process or viability of cells by 50% in vitro.

Epidemiological cohort study: A longitudinal research design that follows a group of individuals over time to assess associations between exposures (such as drug use) and outcomes (such as cancer incidence).

References

1. A Surprising Repurposing of Central Nervous System Drugs against Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Bladder, UM-UC-5. Pharmaceutics (2024).
2. Beyond Psychotropic: Potential Repurposing of Fluoxetine toward Cancer Therapy. International Journal of Molecular Sciences (2024).
3. Use of Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors Is Associated with a Lower Risk of Colorectal Cancer among People with Family History. Cancers (2022).