MONDAY, June 4 (HealthDay News) -- In patients with advanced cancer who are not severely depressed, the antidepressant sertraline does not improve their symptoms, well-being or survival, according to a study published online June 4 in The Lancet: Oncology and presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting in Chicago.
Martin R. Stockler, F.R.A.C.P., of the University of Sydney in Sydney, Australia, and colleagues conducted a double-blind trial of 189 patients with advanced cancer, 95 of whom were randomized to receive 50 mg/day of sertraline while 94 received placebo. The patients were assessed for levels of depression and anxiety, quality of life and fatigue.
Sertraline had no impact on any of the measures versus placebo. More patients in the sertraline group than the placebo group stopped taking the medication and recruitment to the trial was stopped when it became apparent that it had no impact on overall survival.
"Depression, anxiety and fatigue have been associated with survival in advanced cancer, and thus we postulated that their improvement might increase survival. This idea remains untested, however, because symptoms were not improved in our trial," the authors conclude. "Treatment with a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor should be reserved for those with a proven indication."
Several authors have received honoraria or grants from pharmaceutical companies, including Pfizer.
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