Antidepressants and brain tumors

People with brain tumors should be especially careful about antidepressants.

There is a chemical made in the brain called glial cell-line derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF). GDNF is mainly responsible for repair of neurons after injury. However, the problem is that it also helps brain tumor cells survive.

It also helps tumor cells migrate and invade surrounding brain tissue.

SSRI antidepressants in particular increase GDNF and may help tumor cells survive treatment. A 2007 paper reported that amitriptyline, which is a tricyclic antidepressant, did exactly that.

So what does this mean for you?

Well, this means that if you are in treatment for brain tumor or glioma, then you want to be careful about types of antidepressants you are taking, if any.

References:

Lu DY et al 2010, Song H et al 2006, Wan G et al 2010

Hisaoka K et al 2007

Tsuchioka M et al 2008