Sertraline (Zoloft) does not improve depressive symptoms, anxiety, fatigue, well-being, or survival in nondepressed patients with cancer, according to a study released early by Lancet Oncology.
The double-blind trial randomized 189 patients who had advanced cancer and who "felt depressed, anxious, tired, or with low energy, but who were not thought to have major depression" to receive either low-dose sertraline or a placebo daily. Patients assessed their symptoms, well-being, and quality of life at roughly monthly intervals via questionnaire; likewise, their physicians assessed their health-related quality of life.
Sertraline had no effects on the principal outcome measures at 4 and 8 weeks and did not improve survival at a median follow-up of 19 months. The authors conclude that the drug "should not be used indiscriminately in patients with advanced cancer who do not have major depression."
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