ArticlePharmacoepidemiology and drug safety2026
Population-Based Case-Control Study of Antidepressants in Early and Average-Age Onset Colorectal Cancer: The Impact of Exposure Window, Class, Dose, and Intensity.
Article in Pharmacoepidemiology and drug safety, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Population-Based Case-Control Study of Antidepressants in Early and Average-Age Onset Colorectal Cancer: The Impact of Exposure Window, Class, Dose, and Intensity.Pharmacoepidemiology and drug safety · 2026Article
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundGiven inconsistent findings from previous epidemiologic studies on the association between antidepressant exposure and colorectal cancer (CRC), our study provides a rigorous investigation to clarify the temporality of this association, including early-age onset (EAO) and average-age onset (AAO) CRC.
methodsWe conducted a population-based case-control study using administrative health databases from British Columbia, Canada. We included CRC cases and controls, matched (1:10) on age, sex, and index date (i.e., CRC diagnosis date/matched date). Antidepressant exposures were ascertained by duration (i.e., varying windows from 15 to 1 year before CRC diagnosis), drug classes (tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs), selective serotonin reuptake inhibiters (SSRIs), other), cumulative dose and treatment intensity. We used multivariable conditional logistic regression models and interpreted odds ratios as relative risks.
resultsAmong 10,171 CRC cases (688 EAO-CRC; 9483 AAO-CRC) and 90 928 controls, antidepressants exposure in the 15-year window was associated with a lower risk of CRC overall (adjusted relative risk [aRR] 0.84; 95% CI 0.80, 0.89), EAO-CRC (aRR 0.54; 95% CI 0.44, 0.66), and AAO-CRC (aRR 0.87; 95% CI 0.83, 0.92). Across narrowing exposure windows, associations persisted up to 7 years before CRC diagnosis, then weakened. Inverse associations were also observed for TCAs (aRR 0.83; 95% CI 0.77, 0.89) and SSRIs (aRR 0.86; 95% CI 0.81, 0.91) and CRC. Cumulative dose and treatment intensity showed no associations.
conclusionsAcross all age groups, antidepressant exposure in the earlier exposure windows (15-7 years) was associated with a lower CRC risk, with the strongest effect at the 15-year window.
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