Objectives: To evaluate and categorize the survival benefit of tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) in lung cancer patients based on systematic computational drug repositioning data.
Methods: Data were retrospectively extracted from the medical records of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients from the University of Cincinnati Cancer Medical Center database. Patients receiving antidepressants during their course of anti-cancer treatment were compared with those without antidepressants. Data were analyzed using Kaplan–Meier survival curves with the log-rank test, and overall survival (OS) was calculated from the date of diagnosis until last follow-up or death.
Results: The median OS at 2 and 5 years for patients on antidepressants was 20.3 months (54.7% and 42%) vs 44.3 months (47.6% and 43.2%), which was not significant. The median OS for patients receiving TCAs, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, and other antidepressants was 3.17 months, 31.33 months, and 18.50 months, respectively.
Conclusion: We found no significant survival benefit for TCA use in combination with anti-cancer agents in NSCLC patients.
Keywords: Lung cancer; SSRIs; apoptosis; drug repositioning; overall survival; tricyclic antidepressants.