Proapoptotic and chemosensitizing effects of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors on T cell lymphoma/leukemia (Jurkat) in vitro.

While selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are commonly used for psychiatric indications, evidence implies them to possess anti-cancerous properties as well. We evaluated such in vitro effects in malignant T cells (Jurkat), finding that exposure to high concentrations of sertraline (IC(50)=9.5 microM) or paroxetine (IC(50)=18 microM) yielded a considerable reduction in cellular viability, exceeding equimolar doses of the chemotherapeutics vincristine and cyclophosphamide (P<0.

Evaluation of the potential anti-cancer activity of the antidepressant sertraline in human colon cancer cell lines and in colorectal cancer-xenografted mice.

Evidence has been provided of the anti-proliferative activity of certain antidepressants, mainly the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). We tested the effect of different antidepressants on cell viability and proliferation of human colorectal carcinoma cell lines HT29 and the multi-drug resistant (MDR) LS1034. The SSRIs, paroxetine and sertraline, induced a dose-dependent inhibition of cell viability and proliferation in the two cell lines (IC50 8-15 micro M).