New test suggests antidepressant Paxil may promote breast cancer

[bananas]

Source: Los Angeles Times

A team of researchers from the City of Hope in Duarte has developed a speedy way to identify drugs and chemicals that can disrupt the balance of sex hormones in human beings and influence the development and progress of diseases such as breast cancer.

In a trial screening of 446 drugs in wide circulation, the new assay singled out the popular antidepressant paroxetine (better known by its commercial name, Paxil) as having a weak estrogenic effect that could promote the development and growth of breast tumors in women.

This is important because as many as a quarter of women being treated for breast cancer suffer from depression -- a condition most commonly treated with antidepressants known as SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors), including Paxil, which has been on the market since 1992. Almost a quarter of American women in their 40s and 50s are taking an antidepressant, mostly SSRIs.

<snip>

The discovery that Paxil behaves as an endocrine-disrupting chemical may shed light on growing suspicions about the medication in women who have had breast cancer. A 2010 study found that breast cancer patients in Canada who were taking Paxil were more likely than those taking other antidepressants to die of breast cancer when there was a substantial overlap in their use of that antidepressant and of tamoxifen to prevent breast cancer recurrence.

<snip>

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-antidepressant-paxil-breast-cancer-20140218,0,3273056.story

[zazen]

1. weird--I had bona fide hot flashes while on that horrible drug

The side effects felt like what women regularly describe happening during really bad perimenopausal episodes. I was part of the class action lawsuit. That drug was AWFUL.

I also got breast cancer in my late 30s, with no family history. I wasn't on Paxil for more than a few months about five years prior to that, so while I hardly imagine it could have turned on some epigenetic process, I have to wonder. . . .

[merrily]

2. I am very sensitive to side effects from pharmaceuticals.

And that is only the side effects that become apparent immediately, not those that take years to harm you. So, unless I absolutely cannot do without a prescription drug, I do not take it.

I am not saying stay off all prescription drugs, which would probably be stupid and, in many cases, fatal. I am saying only to stay off those prescriptions that you do not absolutely need to avoid harm to yourself and others.

[greymattermom]

3. what about the huge exposure we all have to environmental estrogens from plastics?

I was on Fox News talking about environmental estrogens and migraine. It's a totally unexplored area. Getting funding is impossible, so maybe that's why. There are a lot of things that folks don't want us to know, and controlling money for research is one way to accomplish that.

[bananas]

7. They also identified bisphenol A as an estrogen promoter capable of raising breast cancer risk,

as well as some other medications, including some anti-fungals.

[newfie11]

4. I don't do pharmaceuticals

Unless it would be life threatening. I am allergic to many and have passed out, had my throat swell, and/or hives.

Yes many drugs are life savers or enable folks to live a normal life.

For me the next drug could be a killer. I take my chances.

[Jesus Malverde]

5. bump... nt

[DeSwiss]

6. K&R