Depression Worsens Brain Cancer Outcomes
Reported May 01, 2008
(Ivanhoe Newswire) — People who are suffering from depression are significantly less likely to survive the most common form of brain cancer.
Johns Hopkins researchers arrived at that conclusion after studying around 1,000 patients who were undergoing surgery and radiation to treat brain tumors known as gliomas. The disease is one of the most deadly cancers, with most people dying within one year of diagnosis. Finding factors that might help keep people alive longer is considered paramount to improving the treatment of the disease.
In this study, patients were classified as suffering from depression if they were taking antidepressant medications at the time of their surgery. About five percent of the patients fell into this category.
Regardless of the type or extent of their cancer, depressed people had about a 40 percent increased risk of dying when compared to people who were not depressed. At the one year follow up, 41 percent of non-depressed people were still living, versus just 15 percent of the depressed people. None of the depressed patients were still alive at the 20 month follow up, compared to 21 percent of the people who werent depressed at the time of their surgery.
Patients already depressed at diagnosis had a significantly reduced survival compared to non-depressed patients, study author Matthew J. McGirt, M.D., was quoted as saying. This was most notable in survival rates beyond 12 months, suggesting that depression may be most detrimental for long-term survival.
SOURCE: Presented at the American Association of Neurological Surgeons meeting in Chicago, April 26 – May 1, 2008
