Relationship between antidepressant prescription and breast cancer: a population based study in Taiwan.

To investigate the association between antidepressant prescription and breast cancer.

The National Health Research Institute in Taiwan provided a database of 1 000 000 random subjects for this study. We identified 14 737 new antidepressant female users who were more than 15 years old during 1999-2005 with at least 10 prescriptions and one year exposure to an antidepressant. These were matched 1:1 by age and residence to non-antidepressant users from the same database to compare the risk of breast cancer.

In a model adjusted by age, residence, insurance amount, and depressive disorder, antidepressant prescription was not associated with breast cancer risk. This held true for both selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and tricyclic antidepressants.

There was no evidence for an association between antidepressant prescription and the risk of breast cancer. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.