Men with prostate cancer and depression have lower survival rates than those who aren't depressed

Depressed men with localized prostate cancer are more likely to be diagnosed with more aggressive cancer, receive less effective treatments and survive for shorter times than prostate cancer patients who are not depressed, a UCLA study has found. The study's lead author, UCLA professor Dr. Jim Hu, said the negative outcomes may be the result of several factors, including bias against people with mental illness, depression's impact on cancer's biological processes, the patient's lack of investment in his general health and disinterest in more effective care, and missed opportunities by physicians to educate patients about prostate cancer screening and treatment. The population-based observational study used data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results Medicare database. Researchers focused on 41,275 men diagnosed with localized prostate cancer between 2004 and 2007 and observed through 2009, of whom 1,894 had a depressive disorder that had been discovered in the two years before the cancer was diagnosed. "Men with intermediate- or high-risk prostate cancer and a recent diagnosis of depression are less likely to undergo definitive treatment and experience worse overall survival," said Hu, UCLA's Henry E. Singleton Professor of Urology and director of robotic and minimally invasive surgery at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. "The effect of depressive disorders on prostate cancer treatment and survivorship warrants further study, because both conditions a...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news