Key result
Overall SSRI use was not significantly associated with a lower risk of kidney cancer (aHR 0.88; 95% CI 0.77-1.01), though citalopram and paroxetine showed significant protective effects.
Why the study?
Although the link between SSRI exposure and cancer incidence had been studied, no epidemiological study had investigated the association between exposure to individual SSRIs and kidney cancer incidence.
Does SSRI use reduce the risk of kidney cancer in a general population?
Cohort (n=443,385)
Does SSRI use reduce the risk of kidney cancer in a general population?
Hazard Ratio: 0.88 (95% CI 0.77–1.01)
The use of specific SSRIs, namely citalopram and paroxetine, may be associated with a decreased risk of kidney cancer.
SSRI use should not alter kidney cancer risk counseling; leaves open possible protective effects of specific agents for prospective study.
The association between selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) exposure and cancer incidence has been investigated; however, no epidemiological study has investigated the association between exposure to individual SSRIs and kidney cancer incidence. The aim of this study is to examine whether SSRI use affected the risk of kidney cancer. We conducted a population-based retrospective cohort study using data from Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database. After adjusting for sex, age, urbanization level, comorbidity and medication use through propensity score matching, we identified 222 024 SSRI users and 221 361 SSRI nonusers. A robust Cox proportional hazards model was used to examine the associations between use of individual SSRIs and the risk of kidney cancer with 1- and 2-year induction periods. The result showed that SSRI users tended to be associated with a lower risk of kidney cancer with a 2-year induction period than nonusers; however, the association was not statistically significant (adjusted hazards ratio [aHR] = 0.88, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.77-1.01). We further examined the effects of individual SSRIs and observed a significantly lower risk of kidney cancer associated with the use of citalopram (aHR = 0.67, 95% CI = 0.47-0.96) and paroxetine (aHR = 0.75, 95% CI = 0.58-0.97) with the 2-year induction period. These findings support that SSRIs are associated with decreased kidney cancer risk and indicate that citalopram and paroxetine have protective effects in depressed patients with kidney cancer.
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Lee et al. (2020) conducted a cohort in Kidney cancer (n=443,385). Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) vs. SSRI nonusers was evaluated on Risk of kidney cancer with a 2-year induction period (aHR 0.88, 95% CI 0.77-1.01). Overall SSRI use was not significantly associated with a lower risk of kidney cancer (aHR 0.88; 95% CI 0.77-1.01), though citalopram and paroxetine showed significant protective effects.
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