The bright side.

Many cancer patients are depressed. With so many antidepressants on the market, it can feel overwhelming selecting one to recommend. A huge meta-analysis published last week in the Lancet included over 500 double-blind randomized trials and demonstrated that every antidepressant evaluated was significantly more effective than placebo, with a pretty tight margin of odds ratios spanning all 21 drugs included (1.15-1.55). Side effects differ, of course, which can affect compliance. When antidepressants were compared to one another, the 3 standouts in terms of both efficacy and tolerability were agomelatime, escitalopram and vortrioxetine. TBL: Pick any safe antidepressant, and it’s likely to help your depressed patient.