Antidepressants and testicular cancer: cause versus association.
A data mining study that examined associations between 105 drugs and 55 cancer sites found significant associations between 2 selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (fluoxetine and paroxetine) and testicular cancer. The study suggested several reasons why these associations merited further investigation. A later study tested specific relationships between 12 antidepressant drugs and testicular cancer and subtypes thereof; whereas significant relationships were again found, these disappeared after adjusting for confounding variables. These 2 studies are educative because they illustrate how false-positive results can easily arise in exploratory research and how confounding may be responsible for statistically significant relationships in study designs that are not randomized controlled trials.
Department of Psychopharmacology, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bangalore, India candrade@psychiatrist.com.
Chittaranjan
C
Andrade
D000328:Adult; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D057225:Data Mining / Q000592:standards*; D005473:Fluoxetine / Q000009:adverse effects; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015201:Meta-Analysis as Topic; D017374:Paroxetine / Q000009:adverse effects; D012107:Research Design / Q000592:standards*; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors / Q000009:adverse effects; D013736:Testicular Neoplasms / Q000139:chemically induced
D005473:Fluoxetine; D017374:Paroxetine; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors