Antidepressants and testicular cancer: Cause versus association

Abstract

ponsible for statistically significant relationships in study designs that are not randomized controlled trials.A data mining study that examined associations between 105 drugs and 55 cancer sites found significant associations between 2 selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (fluoxetine and paroxetine) and testicular cancer. The study suggested several reasons why these associations merited further investigation. A later study tested specific relationships between 12 antidepressant drugs and testicular cancer and subtypes thereof; whereas significant relationships were again found, these disappeared after adjusting for confounding variables.These 2 studies are educative because they illustrate how false-positive results can easily arise in exploratory research and how confounding may be res. © Copyright 2014.