Samet ÖZ, Mehmet Refik BAHAR, Semiha Nur ÖZKAYA, Suat TEKİN
İnönü Üniversitesi Sağlık Hizmetleri Meslek Yüksek Okulu Dergisi - 2026;14(1):138-148
Cancer is a major public health problem due to uncontrolled cell proliferation, invasion of surrounding tissues, and its high prevalence and mortality rates. Despite current treatment strategies, the poor prognosis in many cancer types necessitates the exploration of new pharmacological approaches. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the cytotoxic and genotoxic effects of paroxetine, a potent selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), in human ovarian (A2780), prostate (LNCaP), and colon (Caco-2) cancer cell lines in vitro. A2780, LNCaP, and Caco-2 cells were cultured in appropriate media and treated for 24 hours with paroxetine at concentrations of 1, 10, 100, and 1000 µM. Cell viability was determined using the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay, and the inhibitory concentration was calculated using GraphPad Prism 8 software. DNA damage was assessed using the comet assay. Statistical analyses were performed using IBM SPSS Statistics 24.0 (Windows); p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Paroxetine significantly reduced cell viability in A2780 cells at all concentrations except 1 µM, and in LNCaP and Caco-2 cells at 100 and 1000 µM (p < 0.05). Comet assay results demonstrated that paroxetine significantly increased tail length, tail intensity, and olive tail intensity, and decreased head length and head intensity in all cell lines (p < 0.05). Our findings indicate that paroxetine exerts both cytotoxic and genotoxic effects on various cancer cell lines in vitro. These results suggest potential roles of SSRIs in cancer biology beyond their established psychiatric applications.
