Depression ‘cuts cancer survival’

Depression can damage a cancer patient's chances of survival, a review of research suggests.

The University of British Columbia team said the finding emphasised the need to screen cancer patients carefully for signs of psychological distress.

The study review of 26 separate studies including 9,417 patients.


It found death rates were up to 25% higher in patients showing symptoms of depression.


Jillian Satin of University of British Columbia said, "Cancer patients need not panic if they are experiencing depressive symptoms, but it is certainly reasonable to talk to their physicians about their mental health."

In patients actually diagnosed with major or minor depression, death rates were up to 39% higher.

The increased risks remained even after other clinical characteristics that might affect survival were taken into consideration.

However, the researchers said more research was needed before any definitive conclusions could be drawn, as it was difficult to rule out the impact of other factors.


They also stressed that, overall the increased risk of dying from cancer due to depression was small - so patients should not feel they had to maintain a positive attitude to beat their disease.

The studies looked at by the British Columbia team focused on a range of survival times, from one year to 10 years.


Source: BBC