Depression can increase cancer mortality risk

Depressive symptoms can lead up to a 25 percent increase in the mortality risk among cancer patients. Not only this, the risk went up by almost 40 percent in patients who had been diagnosed with major or minor depression.

But it is noteworthy that depressive symptoms or a depression diagnosis do not lead to a heightened risk of cancer progression.

Jillian R. Satin, of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, and colleagues were quoted as saying, “This meta-analysis presented reasonable evidence that depression predicts mortality, but not progression, in cancer patients.”

They further added, “The associated risk was statistically significant but relatively small. The effect of depression remains after adjustment for clinical prognosticators, suggesting that depression may play a causal role.”

Many previous studies have also shown that cancer patients and oncologists agree that there is a link between the psychological conditions of a person and his disease progression.

Authors analyze previous studies
The current study authors looked back at previous studies and analyzed numerous databases to sift out studies that prospectively evaluated the link between depression and the threat of cancer progression or mortality.

A total of five studies that looked into the association between depression and cancer progression in 2,097 patients were found. Also, the new study authors found 27 studies that assessed depression and cancer mortality in 9,417 patients.

After analyzing the data, the authors concluded, “Our meta-analysis provides an empirical justification for systematic screening of psychological distress and subsequent treatments.”

They also added that psychological treatment should be provided to depressed cancer patients.

Depression very common in cancer patients
Depression has been the most widely analyzed psychological variable with respect to cancer progression and mortality, revealed the authors. Also, depression is a psychological condition that has been found more repeatedly in cancer patients as compared to the general population. That is why the latest study specifically looked into depressive symptoms and clinical diagnosis of depression.

Another reason why the authors looked into depression in their study is the existence of a plausible model that associates depression and cancer outcome. In particular, the persistent activation of the hypothalamopituitary-adrenal axis has been pin pointed as a likely mediator of depression’s effect on cancer.

The latest study details have been published online in the journal Cancer.