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Does use of tetracyclic antidepressant—mirtazapine reduce cancer risk in depression patients?
Author(s) -
Sun LiMin,
Lin MingChia,
Liang JiAn,
Chang YenJung,
Chang ShihNi,
Sung FungChang,
Muo ChihHsin,
Kao ChiaHung
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
pharmacoepidemiology and drug safety
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.023
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1099-1557
pISSN - 1053-8569
DOI - 10.1002/pds.3523
Subject(s) - mirtazapine , medicine , nested case control study , odds ratio , confidence interval , pharmacoepidemiology , depression (economics) , cohort study , antidepressant , population , cancer , logistic regression , cancer registry , demography , oncology , environmental health , pharmacology , medical prescription , macroeconomics , sociology , hippocampus , economics
Purpose We conducted a nested case‐control study to evaluate the association between risk of cancer and mirtazapine use in depression patients in Taiwan. Methods We obtained data from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database to conduct a population‐based nested case‐control study. The study cohort included 16 897 patients diagnosed with depression between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2008. We identified 530 cancer patients as the study group and matched 4 non‐cancer subjects with each cancer patient by incident density, age, and sex. Odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were estimated using multivariate conditional logistic regression analysis. Results Use of mirtazapine for depression did not have significant effect on overall cancer incidence (odds ratio: 1.03, 95% confidence interval: 0.72–1.48). Further analysis of annual mirtazapine dosages and the duration of mirtazapine use revealed no significant effect on cancer risk. Conclusion The findings of this population‐based nested case‐control study suggest that mirtazapine use may not provide a tumor suppression effect in humans such as that seen in the animal model. Future large‐scale and in‐depth investigations in this area are warranted. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.