# Duloxetine

Source: https://onco.cc/drugs/duloxetine/  
OnCo record `duloxetine` (Treatment). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Duloxetine is a capsule for depression and nerve pain. It is the one medicine with good enough evidence to recommend for painful nerve damage caused by chemotherapy, though its benefit is modest.

## Summary

The US label covers major depressive disorder, generalised anxiety disorder, diabetic peripheral neuropathic pain, fibromyalgia and chronic musculoskeletal pain. ASCO's 2020 CIPN guideline: "Duloxetine is the only agent that has appropriate evidence to support its use for patients with established painful CIPN. Nonetheless, the amount of benefit from duloxetine is limited." The Japan Society of Pain Clinicians weakly recommends it for chronic pain in survivors, being more effective for pain from chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy than other adjuvant analgesics [2B]. A trial is testing whether it prevents oxaliplatin neuropathy in colorectal cancer. The Cymbalta NDA was approved on 3 August 2004.

## Fields

- Kind: Treatment
- Status: approved
- Last checked: 2026-11-11
- Tags: supportive; generic; supportive-care-gaps-2026-11
- Brand: Cymbalta
- Modality: Serotonin and noradrenaline reuptake inhibitor (oral)
- Mechanism: Inhibits reuptake of serotonin and noradrenaline.
- Approvals: US 2004: Major depressive disorder; generalised anxiety disorder; diabetic peripheral neuropathic pain; fibromyalgia; chronic musculoskeletal pain

## Sources

- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duloxetine
- US label (DailyMed): duloxetine delayed-release capsules: https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/drugInfo.cfm?setid=00628e5e-4c5b-2573-e063-6294a90a0e3b
- Loprinzi et al., Prevention and management of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy in survivors of adult cancers: ASCO guideline update (J Clin Oncol 2020): https://doi.org/10.1200/JCO.20.01399
- Japan Society of Pain Clinicians, Consensus statement on chronic pain treatment in cancer survivors (J Anesth 2025): https://doi.org/10.1007/s00540-024-03427-0

## Connected records

- drugs: [Gabapentin](https://onco.cc/drugs/gabapentin/)
- technologies: [Cancer pain management](https://onco.cc/technologies/pain-management/)
- terms: [Peripheral neuropathy (chemotherapy-induced)](https://onco.cc/terms/peripheral-neuropathy/)
- trials: [Duloxetine to Prevent Oxaliplatin-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy in Patients With Stage II-III Colorectal Cancer](https://onco.cc/trials/nct04137107/)

---
JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/entities/duloxetine.json