Depression, Antidepressant Use, and Breast Cancer Risk in Pre- and Postmenopausal Women: A Prospective Cohort Study

Exposure to psychotropic drugs and breast cancer risk in patients with bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder: a nested case-control study

Breast cancer is one of the most prevalent and serious types of cancer globally. Previous literature has shown that women with mental illness may have an increased risk of breast cancer, however whether this risk is associated with the use of psychotropic drugs has yet to be elucidated. This study aimed to assess such risk among women with major depressive disorder (MDD) and bipolar disorder (BD). A nested case-control study design was used with data obtained from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database. Logistic regression analysis with adjustments for demographic characteristics, medical and mental comorbidities, and all-cause clinical visits was performed to estimate the risk of breast cancer according to the cumulative defined daily dose (cDDD) of psychotropic drugs. The study included 1564 women with MDD or BD who had breast cancer, and 15,540 women with MDD or BD who did not have breast cancer. After adjusting for important confounders, the long-term use of valproic acid (odds ratio, 95% confidence interval: 0.58, 0.39-0.56, cDDD ≥ 365), citalopram (0.58, 0.37-0.91, cDDD 180-365), and sertraline (0.77, 0.61-0.91, cDDD ≥ 365) was associated with a lower risk of breast cancer compared to a cDDD < 30. The short-term use of fluvoxamine (0.82, 0.69-0.96, cDDD 30-180), olanzapine (0.54, 0.33-0.89, cDDD 30-179), risperidone (0.7, 0.51-0.98, cDDD 30-179), and chlorpromazine (0.48, 0.25-0.90, cDDD 30-179) was associated with a lower risk of breast cancer. We found no evidence of an increased risk of breast cancer in patients with MDD or BD receiving psychotropic drugs.

Severe mental illness and the risk of breast cancer: A two-sample, two-step multivariable Mendelian randomization study

BACKGROUND

Based on epidemiological reports, severe mental illness (SMI) and breast cancer (BC) risk are linked positively. However, it is susceptible to clinical confounding factors, such as smoking, alcohol consumption, etc. Here, we performed a two-sample, two-step multivariable Mendelian randomization (MR) research to explore how the SMI etiologically influences BC risk and to quantify mediating effects of known modifiable risk factors.

METHODS

Data concerning the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)-associated with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder (BD), major depressive disorder (MDD), and BC were obtained from two large consortia: the Breast Cancer Association Consortium (BCAC) and the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC). Then, the correlations of the previous SMI with the BC prevalence and the potential impact of mediators were explored through the two-sample and two-step MR analyses.

RESULTS

In two-sample MR, schizophrenia increased BC incidence (odds ratio (OR) 1.06, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.02-1.10, P = 0.001). In subgroup analysis, schizophrenia increased ER+ BC (OR 1.06, 95% CI 1.03-1.10, P = 0.0009) and ER-BC (OR 1.06, 95% CI 1.01-1.11, P = 0.0123) incidences. Neither MDD nor BD elevated the BC risk. In two-step MR, smoking explained 11.29% of the schizophrenia-all BC risk association.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study indicates that schizophrenia increases susceptibility to breast cancer, with smoking playing a certain mediating role. Therefore, BC screening and smoking should be incorporated into the health management of individuals with schizophrenia.

Associations of cumulative depressive symptoms with subsequent cognitive decline and adverse health events: Two prospective cohort studies

BACKGROUND

The course of depression is variable; however, few studies examined the relationship between long-term cumulative depressive symptoms and adverse health outcomes in the elderly.

METHODS

In this cohort study, we used data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) over 24 years and the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) over 16 years. Cumulative depressive symptoms were estimated by calculating the areas under the curve based on the Center for Epidemiological Research Depression scale assessed at four examinations. Outcomes include cognitive decline, incident dementia, cardiovascular disease (CVD), cancer, and all-cause mortality.

RESULTS

A total of 8284 American (mean age: 60.1 years; male: 35.4 %) and 4314 British (60.1 years; 42.4 %) were included in the analysis. The median follow-up was 16.1 years in the HRS and 9.9 years in the ELSA. Similar results were observed in two cohorts. Comparing with the first tertile of cumulative depressive symptoms, the third tertile experienced faster cognitive decline (p = 0.013 in the ELSA and p < 0.001 in the HRS), increased risk of dementia (both p < 0.001), CVD (both p < 0.001) and all-cause mortality (p = 0.002 in the HRS). Strong dose-response relationships were observed. We did not found clearly association between cumulative depressive symptoms and incident cancer.

CONCLUSIONS

This study suggests that long-term cumulative depressive symptoms were associated with subsequent faster cognitive decline and greater risks for dementia, CVD and all-cause mortality, but not cancer. These findings provide insights on potential effective strategy that may improve health in the elderly, future clinical trials are needed to determine causality.

The incidence risk of breast and gynecological cancer by antidepressant use: A systematic review and dose–response meta-analysis of epidemiological studies involving 160,727 patients

Background and objective

Antidepressants are widely prescribed to treat depression and anxiety disorders that may become chronic conditions among women. Epidemiological studies have yielded inconsistent results on the correlation between antidepressant use and the incidence risk of female breast and gynecological cancer, along with uncertain dose–response relationship. Therefore, we performed a systematic review and dose–response meta-analysis to investigate the association.

Methods

Web of Science, Embase, PubMed, The Cochrane Library, and PsycINFO were systematically searched in January 2022, with no language limits. Random-effect models were used to calculate pooled effect sizes and 95% confidence intervals between studies. Linear and non-linear dose–response analyses were performed to evaluate the dose or duration of antidepressant use affecting the incidence risk of female breast and gynecological cancer. Further subgroup analyses were systematically performed by stratifying almost all study characteristics and important potential confounders, in order to further clarify and validate the important potential hypotheses regarding the biological mechanism underlying this association.

Results

Based on a systematic literature search, 34 eligible studies (27 case–control studies and 7 cohort studies) involving 160,727 female breast and gynecological cancer patients found that antidepressant use did not increase the incidence risk of female breast and gynecological cancer (pooled OR: 1.01; 95% CI: 0.97, 1.04, I² = 71.5%, p &lt; 0.001), and even decreased the incidence risk of ovarian cancer (pooled OR: 0.91; 95% CI: 0.83, 1, I² = 17.4%, p = 0.293). There were a non-linear dose–response relationship (p non-linearity &lt; 0.05) between the duration of antidepressant use and incidence risk of female breast cancer, and an inverse linear dose–response relationship between antidepressant use and the incidence risk of gynecological cancer, specifically with an increase of cumulative defined daily dose or duration to a high level, like 25,550 doses (OR: 0.91, 95% CI: 0.85–0.98, p linearity &lt; 0.05) or 4,380 days (OR: 0.82; 95% CI: 0.7, 0.96, p linearity &lt; 0.05), compared to never antidepressant users.

Conclusion

This systematic review and dose–response meta-analysis found that antidepressant use did not increase the incidence risk of female breast and gynecological cancer and even decreased the incidence risk of ovarian cancer, along with a non-linear or linear dose–response relationship.

Systematic Review Registration

PROSPERO https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/display_record.php?RecordID=313364, identifier CRD42022313364.

Major depression disorder may causally associate with the increased breast cancer risk: Evidence from two-sample mendelian randomization analyses

INTRODUCTION

Major depression disorder (MDD) has been associated with increased breast cancer risk in epidemiological studies; however, it is still unknown whether this association is causal or not. The aim of this study is to determine the causal relationship between MDD and breast cancer risk.

METHODS

Two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analyses with 92 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) significantly associated with MDD as instrumental variables (IVs) were performed. Effects of these SNPs on breast cancer in women were estimated in the Breast Cancer Association Consortium (122,977 cases and 105,974 controls) using inverse variance weighted (IVW), weighted median and multivariable MR models. Heterogeneity and pleiotropy effects were assessed based on IVW and MR-Egger regression model, respectively.

RESULTS

An 8.7% increased risk of overall breast cancer [odds ratio (OR) = 1.087; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.011-1.170; P = 0.025] per log-odds ratio increment of MDD risk based on the IVW model was noticed. Similar results were obtained with the multivariable MR model (OR = 1.118, 95% CI = 1.010-1.237; P = 0.031). An increment but not statistically significant causality association was noticed between MDD and risk of ER+ (OR = 1.098, 95% CI = 0.984-1.227; P = 0.093) or ER- (OR = 1.129, 95% CI = 0.982-1.297; P = 0.089) breast cancer under multivariable MR model. No significant pleiotropy effects were observed for the IVs in the two-sample MR studies.

CONCLUSIONS

The results suggested that a genetic predisposition of MDD is causally associated with overall breast cancer risk; however, the underlying biological mechanisms are worthy of further study.

DNA Methylation Markers and Prediction Model for Depression and Their Contribution for Breast Cancer Risk

Background

Major depressive disorder (MDD) has become a leading cause of disability worldwide. However, the diagnosis of the disorder is dependent on clinical experience and inventory. At present, there are no reliable biomarkers to help with diagnosis and treatment. DNA methylation patterns may be a promising approach for elucidating the etiology of MDD and predicting patient susceptibility. Our overarching aim was to identify biomarkers based on DNA methylation, and then use it to propose a methylation prediction score for MDD, which we hope will help us evaluate the risk of breast cancer.

Methods

Methylation data from 533 samples were extracted from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database, of which, 324 individuals were diagnosed with MDD. Statistical difference of DNA Methylation between Promoter and Other body region (SIMPO) score for each gene was calculated based on the DNA methylation data. Based on SIMPO scores, we selected the top genes that showed a correlation with MDD in random resampling, then proposed a methylation-derived Depression Index (mDI) by combining the SIMPO of the selected genes to predict MDD. A validation analysis was then performed using additional DNA methylation data from 194 samples extracted from the GEO database. Furthermore, we applied the mDI to construct a prediction model for the risk of breast cancer using stepwise regression and random forest methods.

Results

The optimal mDI was derived from 426 genes, which included 245 positive and 181 negative correlations. It was constructed to predict MDD with high predictive power (AUC of 0.88) in the discovery dataset. In addition, we observed moderate power for mDI in the validation dataset with an OR of 1.79. Biological function assessment of the 426 genes showed that they were functionally enriched in Eph Ephrin signaling and beta-catenin Wnt signaling pathways. The mDI was then used to construct a predictive model for breast cancer that had an AUC ranging from 0.70 to 0.67.

Conclusion

Our results indicated that DNA methylation could help to explain the pathogenesis of MDD and assist with its diagnosis.

Influence of Psychological Factors in Breast and Lung Cancer Risk - A Systematic Review

Introduction: In 2020, according to the Global Cancer Observatory, nearly 10 million people died of cancer. Amongst all cancers, breast cancer had the highest number of new cases and lung cancer had the highest number of deaths. Even though the literatures suggest a possible connection between psychological factors and cancer risk, their association throughout studies remains inconclusive. The present systematic review studied the connection between psychological factors and the risk of breast and lung cancer, prior to a cancer diagnosis. The psychological factors of trauma, grief, and depression were studied. Methods: The current systematic review was carried out across multiple databases in two phases, an initial exploratory research in June 2020, refined with a second electronic research in December 2020. The inclusion criteria included studies describing the association between trauma, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), grief, and depression with breast and lung cancer risk. The psychological data collection must have been carried out prior to a confirmed breast or lung cancer diagnosis, and accessed through self-report measures, questionnaires, clinical interviews, or clinical diagnoses. Study reports had to contain information about the incidence of cancer and effect size. The exclusion criteria were studies in which psychological factors were collected after cancer diagnosis. Results and Conclusion: A total of 26 studies were included. Although non-consensual, the findings from the present systematic review suggest that, in addition to the known risk factors, psychological factors may play an important role in the etiology of both breast and lung cancer. To include psychological factors as a variable that affects cancer development may be fundamental to opening new avenues for prevention and intervention. Systematic Review Registration: [www.ClinicalTrials.gov], identifier [CRD42020209161].

The Effects of Depression and Anti-Depressants on Quality of Life After Breast Reconstruction: A Post-Hoc Analysis

Background

A personal history of depression prior to breast cancer diagnosis and its effect on post-diagnosis quality of life (QOL) in women undergoing breast reconstruction is relatively unknown. We performed the current study to determine if depression alters QOL for patients who undergo breast reconstruction by assessing the pre-to-post-operative change in patient-reported BREAST-Q scores.

Methodology

We conducted a single-center, post-hoc analysis of 300 patients with completed BREAST-Q data who underwent breast reconstruction from November 2013 to November 2016 following a diagnosis of breast cancer. Patients completed the BREAST-Q at four time points: pre-operatively, six weeks following tissue expander (TE) insertion for patients undergoing staged reconstruction, and six and 12 months following the final reconstruction. Medical records were reviewed to identify patients who had a pre-cancer diagnosis of clinical depression and/or anti-depressant medication use. BREAST-Q scores were compared between groups and within groups. Groups compared were the depression (n = 50) and no depression (n = 250) patients, along with anti-depressant (n = 36) and no anti-depressant (n = 14) use in the depression group.

Results

Within-group Sexual Well-being scores at the six-week post-TE follow-up for patients in the depression group (median = 37, interquartile range [IQR] = 25-47) were significantly lower (p < 0.01) than the scores for patients in the no depression group (median = 47, IQR = 39-60). There were no statistically significant differences in BREAST-Q scores in other domains. When compared to patients diagnosed with depression who were not taking anti-depressants, anti-depressant medication use did not result in statistically significant higher BREAST-Q scores, although Satisfaction With Breasts six months post-operatively, Psychosocial Well-being at six weeks post-TE, Sexual Well-being at six weeks post-TE and six months post-operatively were clinically higher in patients taking anti-depressants for depression.

Conclusions

Patients with a diagnosis of depression prior to breast cancer had lower BREAST-Q Sexual Well-being scores in the six-week TE group with or without anti-depressant medication. Patients with a pre-cancer diagnosis of depression considering TEs may benefit from additional counseling prior to breast reconstruction or electing a different method of breast reconstruction. Anti-depressant medications may provide clinically higher BREAST-Q scores in patients with a pre-cancer diagnosis of depression. Adding an anti-depressant medication to a patient’s treatment plan may provide additional benefits. Larger samples are required to properly determine the impact of anti-depressant medications on BREAST-Q scores in patients with a pre-cancer diagnosis of depression.

Relationship between antidepressive agents and incidence risk of breast cancer: systematic review and meta-analysis

Purpose: This study aimed to review the association between antidepressive agent (AD) use and the incidence risk of breast cancer. Methods: CBM, WOS, Embase, PubMed and Cochrane Library were systematically searched in July 2019. The methodological quality of the studies was assessed through the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. Results: We included 19 studies from six countries or regions with relationships between breast cancer and ADs. Subgroup analysis showed no significant association in nested case-control or case-control studies; however, cohort studies revealed a significant association (odds ratio = 1.11; 95% CI: 1.04-1.17). Conclusions: This meta-analysis indicates that breast cancer was not associated with the use of ADs when considering all types of studies, but an association was observed if we considered cohort studies.

Use of Antidepressants and Risk of Cutaneous Melanoma: A Prospective Registry-Based Case-Control Study

Purpose

Melanoma is the cancer with the most rapidly rising incidence rate in Norway. Although exposure to ultraviolet radiation (UVR) is the major environmental risk factor, other factors may also contribute. Antidepressants have cancer inhibiting and promoting side effects, and their prescription rates have increased in parallel with melanoma incidence. Thus, we aimed to prospectively examine the association between use of antidepressants and melanoma by using nation-wide data from the Cancer Registry of Norway, the National Registry, the Norwegian Prescription Database and the Medical Birth Registry of Norway.

Patient and Methods

All cases aged 18–85 with a primary cutaneous invasive melanoma diagnosed during 2007–2015 (n=12,099) were matched to population controls 1:10 (n=118,467) by sex and year of birth using risk-set sampling. We obtained information on prescribed antidepressants and other potentially confounding drug use (2004–2015). Conditional logistic regression was used to estimate adjusted rate ratios (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the association between overall and class-specific use of antidepressants and incident melanoma.

Results

Compared with ≤1 prescription, ≥8 prescriptions of antidepressants overall were negatively associated with melanoma (RR 0.81 CI 0.75–0.87). Class-specific analyses showed decreased RRs for selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (RR 0.82 CI 0.73–0.93) and mixed antidepressants (RR 0.77 CI 0.69–0.86). The negative association was found for both sexes, age ≥50 years, residential regions with medium and highest ambient UVR exposure, all histological subtypes, trunk, upper and lower limb sites and local disease.

Conclusion

Use of antidepressants was associated with decreased risk of melanoma. There are at least two possible explanations for our results; cancer-inhibiting actions induced by the drug and less UVR exposure among the most frequent users of antidepressants.

Depressive Symptoms, Sleep Profiles and Serum Melatonin Levels in a Sample of Breast Cancer Patients

BACKGROUND

Chronobiological changes have been detected in various physiological functions of patients with breast cancer, suggesting dysregulation in the pineal gland and melatonin secretion. This study aimed to assess and measure serum melatonin levels pre- and postoperatively in patients who had been diagnosed for the first time with breast cancer.

METHODS

A sample of first-time breast cancer patients, consisting of 45 women aged 25-65 years, was evaluated and psychometric assessment was completed using the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Insomnia Severity Index (White, Weinberg et al) and the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (Cardoso, Spence et al). The Morningness-Eveningness questionnaire (MEQ) was used to assess the chronotype. Serum melatonin levels were measured by radioimmunoassay.

RESULTS

Morning and moderately morning chronotypes were prevalent among the sample (25%, 45.8%, respectively). The finding of a mean BDI score of 13.5±11.2 indicated that depressive symptoms were prevalent among the sample. Despite the finding that a mean of the participants apparently had no symptoms of daytime sleepiness (the mean and standard deviations of the ESS were 7.5±4.4), scores on the ISI (a mean of 16.7±SD 7.3) indicated that insomnia symptoms were prevalent in the sample. Melatonin levels showed an inverse relationship with insomnia severity as measured by the ISI and depression severity, as assessed by the BDI. The postoperative melatonin levels were higher than the preoperative levels. Additionally, the psychometric profile differed among various pathological types of breast cancer according to their hormone receptor profile.

CONCLUSION

Serum melatonin levels correlated significantly with self-reported sleep quality and psychometric profiles of depression in the present sample of breast cancer patients. The melatonin assay, which is relatively easy to carry out, provided a convenient, objective measure of an important biological correlate of sleep quality and depression. This assay thus represented a confirmatory alternative to the self-report instruments, which may sometimes be unreliable. Future studies should further evaluate the utility of melatonin measures in psychiatric and sleep complaints of breast cancer patients.

Comparing anxiety and depression to obesity and smoking as predictors of major medical illnesses and somatic symptoms

OBJECTIVE

Anxiety and depression predict poor physical health longitudinally, but are neglected in primary care settings compared to other risk factors such as obesity and smoking. Further, anxiety has been less commonly studied than depression, and whether anxiety has unique predictive effects for physical health is unknown. We compared anxiety and depression to obesity and smoking as predictors of physical health indices and examined unique predictive effects of anxiety and depression.

METHOD

Using data from the Health and Retirement study, a US population-based cohort study of older adults, we tested longitudinal associations of anxiety and depression symptoms with onset of self-reported physical health indices (N = 15,418; M age = 68). Medical illnesses (heart disease, stroke, arthritis, high blood pressure, diabetes, and cancer) and somatic symptoms (stomach problems, shortness of breath, dizziness, back pain, headache, pain, and eyesight difficulties) were assessed on two occasions over four years. Anxiety and depression were measured at the initial time point and tested as predictors of medical illness and somatic symptom onset.

RESULTS

Anxiety and depression symptoms predicted greater incidence of nearly all medical illnesses and somatic symptoms. Effects were as strong as or stronger than those of obesity and smoking, and anxiety and depression independently increased risk for most physical health indices assessed.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings suggest that anxiety and depression are as strongly predictive of poor future physical health as obesity and smoking and that anxiety is independently linked to poor physical health. Greater attention should be paid towards these conditions in primary care. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).