For Immediate Release
March 10, 1998
Contact:
Jennifer Donovan
Voice: 410/706-7946; Fax: 410/706-6330
Email: [email protected]
Interferon Therapy for Cancer, Hepatitis Can Cause Depression University of Maryland Scientists Say Side Effects Can Be Treated
Interferon-alpha is used to treat a common form of adult leukemia, certain kidney cancers, and the lethal skin cancer, melanoma. It also is effective against hepatitis B and C.
However, interferon-alpha can cause central nervous system side-effects, including depression, loss of appetite and sex drive, slowed thinking, and memory impairment. These side effects can be treated successfully with antidepressants, but it is vital that those administering interferon-alpha become aware of potential psychiatric complications and routinely assess their patients' emotional and mental states, says Peter Hauser, MD, professor of psychiatry and medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.
In a special supplement to the current issue of the journal Seminars in Oncology, Hauser and colleagues at the University of Maryland, the National Institute of Mental Health and the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center report on the mood and cognitive side effects of interferon-alpha therapy. They discuss potential treatments and identify several possible underlying mechanisms by which interferon-alpha may affect the brain.
The incidence and treatment of depression and other central nervous system side-effects of interferon therapy have not been thoroughly studied, although package labels caution against using interferon-alpha in patients with pre-existing depression or other psychiatric disorders, says Hauser. More research is needed into the neurobiological mechanisms underlying interferon-alpha's impact on the brain and on the effectiveness of certain medicationsñprimarily antidepressantsñin treating central nervous system side-effects, he adds.
"That is the only way to ensure that patients remain on optimal doses of potentially life-
saving medications," Hauser says.
Hauser, Mitchel Kling, MD, and Ernest Borden, MD, are conducting a study at the University of Maryland School of Medicine that will determine the frequency of depression, cognitive impairment and other side effects of interferon-alpha therapy. The study also will assess how effective antidepressants are in reversing these side effects. Kling, co-author of the journal articles, is an associate professor of psychiatry and medicine at the School of Medicine; Borden, a guest editor of the special supplement, is a professor of medicine. Much of his clinical work and research focuses on interferon therapy.
Publication of the special supplement on interferon-alpha grew out of a workshop in Baltimore in March 1996 on the chronic and dose-limiting side-effects of interferon-alpha. The workshop was co-sponsored by the University of Maryland's Greenebaum Cancer Center and the National Cancer Institute.
Other co-authors include Alan D. Valentine, MD, and Christina A. Meyers, PhD, Department of Neuro-Oncology, UT M.D. Anderson Cancer Center; and Julio Licinio, MD, Clinical Neuroendocrinology Branch, National Institute of Mental Health.
Funding for the work comes in part from Schering Plough Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and the National Institutes of Health.
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