1000% increase in chemotherapy efficiency with prozac!

[fullofbeans]

Prof. Rimona Margalit, found that Prozac enhanced doxorubicin's efficacy more than 1,000%. Prozac, in effect, worked to block the cancer drug from leaving the interior of the cancer cell and poisoning the healthy non-cancerous cells that surrounded it..


http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/133784.php


They have not tested with BC chemo drug but they seem to expect that it could potentially work accross a range of chemo drugs

[Rich66]

Wow! That could make a lot of patients err..happy. I know valproic acid, another mood mgt drug/anti-epileptic is supposed to be helpful but...1,000%? Again..wow!
If the the mechanism isn't anything specific to Dox, this would be tremendous. Even if just for Dox, could mean a lower dose could be used for desired effect with less toxicity. And if case histories are analyzed, results shouldn't take long to confirm.
An emerging liposomal encapsulated Doxo should be less toxic to begin with. Studies have suggesetd following it 24hrs later with Zoledronate greatly enhances effect..but posibly only in ER-.
So....why haven't we heard more about this?

[Rich66]

A discussion:
http://scienceblogs.com/bushwells/20...ancer_drug.php

Another article about conflict with Tamoxifen:
http://www.smh.com.au/text/articles/...708350568.html

[Rich66]

Suggesting Prozac has anticancer properties by itself:


1: Cancer Biol Ther. 2008 Oct;7(10):1685-93. Epub 2008 Oct 22. Links
Fluoxetine inhibits the extracellular signal regulated kinase pathway and suppresses growth of cancer cells.

Stepulak A, Rzeski W, Sifringer M, Brocke K, Gratopp A, Kupisz K, Turski L, Ikonomidou C.
Department of Pediatric Neurology, Children's Hospital, Medical Faculty Carl Gustav Carus, University of Technology Dresden, Dresden, Germany. andrzej.stepulak@uniklinikum-dresden.de
Fluoxetine (FLX) is a widely prescribed antidepressant. Concerns were raised about the potential impact of FLX on cancer growth, because FLX was shown to promote development of breast cancer in rodents. Here we studied the effect of FLX on tumor growth in lung (A549), colon (HT29), neuroblastoma (SKNAS), medulloblastoma/rhabdomyosarcoma (TE671), astrocytoma (MOGGCCM) and breast (T47D) cancer cells and explored potential mechanisms of its action. In our study, FLX reduced growth of cancer cells in vitro in a concentration dependent manner. The antiproliferative effect of FLX was already evident after 24 hours exposure and more pronounced at 96 hours. We demonstrate that FLX inhibits phosphorylation of ERK1/2 kinases in a time and concentration-dependent manner, followed by reduced phosphorylation of transcription factor c-Myc in A549 and HT29 cells. After treatment with FLX, A549 and HT29 cells demonstrated concentration-dependent decrease in the expression of c-fos, c-jun, cyclin A, cyclin D1, and increased expression of p21(waf1) and p53 genes, which resulted in slowing of the cell cycle progression. We suggest that these changes could be responsible for observed inhibition of cancer cell proliferation during FLX treatment in vitro.
PMID: 18836303 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

[Brenda_D]

Interesting. I was put on prozac after chemo, as a SSRI
inhibitor to help me sleep. I wonder if it made a difference with the Adryamicin I took just weeks before?

[fullofbeans]

Thank for the extra search Rich, Yes why do we not hear more about it? well I have my own theories, just like why do we not hear more about Yamanoto's experiments..

Anyhow it would have to be taken at the same time than chemo (chemo is only active for few hours and the rest of the time your body is dealing with the side effects). Some patient are on prozac when receiving cancer treatments so we already know that it should be safe. I am not advising on anything I am just informing.

[chrisy]

HMMMMMM

Very interesting....should be an easy one to get "off label"!

[Rich66]

Anyone pursuing this?

[suzan w]

this is interesting news!!! take care of cancer and the depression we get for having cancer all at the same time!!!

[julierene]

Is there anything new on this?

[Rich66]

1: Cancer Lett. 2009 Feb 8;274(1):118-25. Epub 2008 Oct 11. Links
Treatment of resistant human colon cancer xenografts by a fluoxetine-doxorubicin combination enhances therapeutic responses comparable to an aggressive bevacizumab regimen.

Argov M, Kashi R, Peer D, Margalit R.
Department of Biochemistry, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel.
Pre-clinical studies of multidrug resistance (MDR) usually address severe resistance, yet moderate MDR is already clinically-impeding. The purpose of this study was to characterize moderate drug resistance in human colon cancer, and it's modulation by fluoxetine. In vitro fluoxetine enhanced doxorubicin's cytotoxicity (10-fold), increased doxorubicin's intracellular accumulation (32%) and decreased efflux of intracellular doxorubicin (70%). In vivo, mild treatment with a doxorubicin-fluoxetine combination slowed-down tumor progression significantly (p<0.001 vs. doxorubicin alone), comparable to aggressive treatment with bevacizumab. Collectively, our results suggest that combinations of fluoxetine with chemotherapeutic drugs (P-glycoprotein substrates) are worthy of further pursuit for moderate MDR in the clinic.
PMID: 18851896 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE

[Rich66]

So...not only a chemo helper..possibly a resistance reverser. I'd love to know the treatment success for chemo patients on prozac and metformin(diabetics).

[nitewind]

Hmm, I'm wondering if this has had an effect on me. I've been on prozac for nearly ten years. So far, I'm doing well since all my chemo and herceptin. This is very interesting.

[DianneS]

This study

http://www.prozactruth.com/cancer.htm

talks about the antidepressants that can actually double the risk of breast cancer. Interesting.

Dianne

I had someone say to me once (a doctor, laughingly) that they should just put Prozac in the water. What's the phrase, Prozac, its not just for breakfast anymore!

I took it religiously during treatment, it helped tremendously with the depressive effects of chemo (which had me reduced to a weeping mess). I go on and off it now, but mostly because the economy has me so depressed!

[Rich66]

Based on more recent research, overall..doesn't look they increase risk

2005
1: Epidemiology. 2005 Jan;16(1):101-5. Links
Breast cancer risk among users of antidepressant medications.

González-Pérez A, GarcÃ*a RodrÃ*guez LA.
Centro Español de Investigación Farmacoepidemiológica (CEIFE), Madrid, Spain. agonzalez@ceife.es
BACKGROUND: Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women. Laboratory studies suggest that antidepressants may promote breast cancer tumor growth. Several epidemiologic studies have evaluated this association with conflicting results. METHODS: We conducted a cohort study with a secondary nested case-control analysis based on the General Practice Research Database. Our goal was to assess the association between the risk of breast cancer and use of serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs), and other antidepressants. We calculated adjusted estimates controlling for breast cancer risk factors using unconditional logistic regression. RESULTS: A total of 3708 cases of breast cancer were ascertained. Overall, antidepressant use was not associated with an increased risk of breast cancer. Current users of SSRIs had an odds ratio (OR) of 0.98 (95% confidence interval=0.81-1.19), whereas current users of TCAs had an OR of 0.86 (0.73-1.00). When only use for longer than 1 year was considered, the corresponding estimates for SSRIs and TCAs were 0.76 (0.53-1.09) and 0.87 (0.70-1.09), respectively. None of the individual drugs was associated with breast cancer risk. CONCLUSIONS: Use of antidepressants was not associated with an increased risk of breast cancer regardless of duration of use, daily dose, or specific drug being used. These results, together with evidence from prior studies, support the lack of a clinically meaningful association between breast cancer risk and antidepressants.
PMID: 15613952 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLIN



2006
http://www.dslrf.org/breastcancer/co...id=132&cid=598

and

1: Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2006 Jan;95(2):131-40. Epub 2005 Dec 2. Links
Antidepressant use and breast cancer risk.

Chien C, Li CI, Heckbert SR, Malone KE, Boudreau DM, Daling JR.
Division of Public Health Sciences, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA 98109-1024, USA. cchien@fhcrc.org
BACKGROUND: Antidepressants are among the most commonly prescribed drugs in the United States. Laboratory studies suggest that because certain antidepressants increase prolactin levels that they may also increase breast cancer risk. However, human studies evaluating use of antidepressants in relation to breast cancer risk have yielded inconsistent results. METHODS: A population-based case-control study consisting of 975 breast cancer cases 65-79 years of age diagnosed from 1997-1999 and 1007 age and residence-matched controls was conducted in western Washington State. Detailed information on antidepressant use was obtained through structured in-person interviews. Logistic regression was performed to analyze the relationship between antidepressant use and breast cancer risk. RESULTS: Overall, there was no association between ever use of antidepressants and breast cancer risk (odds ratio [OR] = 1.2, 95% confidence interval [95% CI]: 0.9-1.6). When evaluated separately, tricyclic antidepressants (TCA), selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI), and triazolopyridines were each not associated with breast cancer risk. However, risk varied by hormone receptor status. Compared to never users, ever users of SSRIs had elevated risks of progesterone receptor (PR) negative and estrogen receptor (ER) positive/PR-negative breast cancers (OR = 1.8, 95% CI: 1.1-3.6 and OR = 2.0, 95% CI: 1.1-3.8, respectively), but not of tumors with other hormone receptor profiles. CONCLUSIONS: Based on these results and those of previous studies, there is limited evidence that any type of antidepressant use is associated with breast cancer risk overall. SSRIs may elevate risks of PR- and ER+/PR- tumors, though further studies are needed to confirm these associations.
PMID: 16322894 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE


1: Expert Rev Neurother. 2006 Sep;6(9):1363-74. Links
Review of the epidemiological literature on antidepressant use and breast cancer risk.

Coogan PF.
Slone Epidemiology Center, Boston University, MA, USA. pcoogan@bu.edu
Based on evidence that antidepressants increase levels of prolactin and may promote the growth of mammary tumor cells, there has been concern that the use of these drugs may increase the risk of breast cancer. This article reviews the epidemiological evidence on the relationship between breast cancer risk and the use of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, the tricyclic antidepressants and other antidepressants. Overall, the evidence does not support the hypothesis that the use of antidepressants increases the risk of breast cancer. There is a dearth of data on long-term selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor use. Since these drugs are commonly used, it is prudent public health policy to monitor breast cancer incidence among women using this class of drug for long durations.
PMID: 17009923 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE


2008
Links
Anti-depressants not linked to increasing risk of cancer.

McCord A.
PMID: 19048675 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
no abstract available


2009
1: Pharmacoepidemiol Drug Saf. 2009 Jul 21. [Epub ahead of print] Links
Antidepressant use and colorectal cancer risk.

Coogan PF, Strom BL, Rosenberg L.
Slone Epidemiology Center at Boston University, Boston, MA, USA.
PURPOSE: A previous epidemiologic study reported a 30% reduced risk of colorectal cancer among users of high doses of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). We assessed the association of colorectal cancer risk with SSRI and tricyclic antidepressant use in our hospital-based Case Control Surveillance Study. METHODS: For the SSRI analyses, we used data collected on 529 colorectal cancer cases and 1955 hospitalized controls collected from 1995 to 2008. For the tricyclic antidepressant analyses, we used data on 2889 cases and 7122 controls collected from 1976 to 2008. We used multivariable logistic regression analysis to evaluate the association of regular SSRI use and regular tricyclic antidepressant use (daily use for at least 3 continuous months) with colorectal cancer risk. RESULTS: The odds ratio for regular SSRI use was 0.55 (95% CI 0.35-0.88) and it did not differ by duration of use. The odds ratio was 0.47 (95% CI 0.26-0.85) for colon cancer and 0.72 (95% CI 0.37-1.41) for rectal cancer. The odds ratio for regular use of tricyclic antidepressants was 0.77 (95% CI 0.52-1.16) CONCLUSIONS: We found an association of reduced risk of colorectal cancer with regular use of SSRIs. In light of laboratory data indicating that SSRIs may inhibit colon cancer and one previous epidemiologic study that also observed a decreased risk, further investigation of the effect of SSRIs on the risk of colorectal cancer is warranted. Copyright (c) 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

[DianneS]

Well, I would urge caution here. The jury is still out if you read the statement I copied from one of the articles. Are these studies funded by any drug companies? No bias?
Dianne

'SSRIs may elevate risks of PR- and ER+/PR- tumors, though further studies are needed to confirm these associations.
PMID: 16322894 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE'

[Joan M]

Here's a related thought. Current research shows that antipressents, such as Paxil, Prozac and Zoloft, "are part of a class of drugs that inhibit CYP2D6, an enzyme that converts tamoxifen to its active form."

Therefore, taking these antidepressants concurrently with tamoxifen might reducing the estrogen inhibitor's effect.

The results of trials were given at the spring ASCO meeting.

Joan

[Rich66]

Seems like there is a fair amount of more recent supportive research by different entities in different countries.
Yeah..definitely some info on conflict with Tamoxifen. Have not heard this in regards to aromatase inhibitors or fulvestrant.

It might also be relevant that risk before diagnosis is very different than efficacy once already diagnosed. Kinda apples and oranges. Eg. Soy and Flax are generally thought to be BC preventive but may be forbidden once diagnosed.

Who pays for the studies is always a potential issue..with just about everything prescribed. But then..with the cost and risk of failure, I wonder how many helpful pharmaceuticals would be available if only disinterested parties funded the multiphase trials necessary for approval.

[DianneS]

What about taking depressants, such as Ativan or Valium? Any studies on these drugs and their interaction with chemo, herceptin, AI's or Tamoxifen?

I just learned about this CYP2D6 enzyme and will ask my doc about it before and if I begin Tamoxifen. But I'd be interested in learning what my anti anxiety drugs have been doing while I've been on these other drugs (Taxotere, Carboplatin -finished in March, 09, continuing with Herceptin until Oct. 8 -17 tx's.)

Dianne