PAROXETINE FOR PRURITUS IN ADVANCED CANCER

Pruritus associated with malignancy may be one of the most bothersome symptoms in advanced cancer. Its control is still difficult to achieve and is a challenge to palliative medicine specialists. We describe fi ve patients suffering from pruritus of different etiologies who respon ded rapidly to administration of paroxetine, a serotonin reuptake inhi bitor, in a dose-dependent manner. Two patients experienced transient but severe nausea and vomiting. We suggest that paroxetine's antipruri tic effect may be explained by rapid downregulation of the 5-HT3 recep tors, which may have an important role In the generation of pruritus a nd pain. J Pain Symptom Manage 1998;16:121-124. (C) U.S. Cancer Pain R elief Committee, 1998.