The Potential Use of Using the Psychological Side Effects of Antidepressants in Treating Cancer Patients

The Potential Use of Using the Psychological Side Effects of Antidepressants in Treating Cancer Patients

We appreciate the comprehensive and exemplary review about antidepressant therapy in cancer patients by Chang and Shen. In a latest meta-analysis about the clinical practice of antidepressants in oncology, the antidepressant prescription rate is remarkably less in studies from Asia except one study on breast cancer in Taiwan. The most frequently prescribed antidepressants are selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs). Although the oncologists recognize the efficacy of antidepressants in depression or anxiety symptoms and in cancer-related symptoms, they still concern about their side effects and drug interactions. About the side effects of antidepressants, we want to indicate here the psychological side effect (PSE) of anhedonia/ indifference/apathy which may be due to the serotoninergic effect. Most of the reports on the PSE in literature are from SSRI or SNRI. To our knowledge, the first report about the PSE on SSRI was published in 1990. The authors found that the PSE appears within the first week and resembled frontal lobe syndrome.