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The antidepressant drug paroxetine is an effective treatment for diminishing hot flashes in men who are receiving hormone therapy for prostate cancer, according to a report in the October issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings.
The study looked at men receiving androgen ablation therapy, also known as hormonal deprivation therapy, a well-established treatment for various stages of prostate cancer. These men were given either paroxetine or a placebo.
Mayo Clinic researchers followed 18 prostate cancer patients who took paroxetine for five weeks. The hot flashes of those taking paroxetine decreased from 6.2 per day to 2.5 per day. Hot flash scores, the frequency multiplied by the severity, decreased in the same period from 10.6 per day to 3 per day.
“Newer antidepressants have been proven effective in reducing hot flashes in women but have not been studied in men,” said study author Charles Loprinzi, M.D., Mayo Clinic Division of Medical Oncology and the lead author of the study. “Although hot flashes in men with prostate cancer are well documented, their treatment has not received as much attention.”
Source: Medical Week staff, week of October 16, 2004
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