Ovarian cancer and antidepressants

Abstract

Background: The association between antidepressant use and ovarian cancer remains unclear. This study aimed to assess the ovarian cancer risk with antidepressant use in the general population.

Methods: Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database was used to identify 957 patients with ovarian cancer and 9570 controls. We used a conditional logistic regression model for data analysis, excluding a 1-year latent period before the diagnosis of ovarian cancer to account for the quantification of treatment duration.

Results: We found no increased risk of developing ovarian cancer among antidepressant users. Neither the duration of antidepressant use nor the average dose had a significant effect on the risk of ovarian cancer. In addition, timing of antidepressant use was not linked to ovarian cancer risk. However, we found the estimate of ovarian cancer risk increased slightly among subjects under 50 years (adjusted OR = 2.03, 95% CI [0.82, 5.02]), although this association was still statistically insignificant (p = 0.12).

Conclusions: There was no association between risk of ovarian cancer and use of antidepressant drugs. Whether or not there is possible risk of using antidepressant whose mechanism of action involves dopamine and norepinephrine warrants further investigation.

Keywords: antidepressant; depression; oncology; ovarian cancer.