Newly diagnosed patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer: A clinical description of those with moderate to severe depressive symptoms

Many facts about lung cancer are well-known: lung cancer persists as the number one cause of all cancer-related mortality worldwide [1]. The most prevalent type, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), accounts for 85% of all cases, and many individuals present with stage IV disease (44%), with a 5-year survival estimate of 4.2% [2]. What may be less well-known is that the case is compelling for patients with lung cancer being the most psychologically disabled of all cancer groups [3,4]. In fact, SEER registry data (3.5 million patients; 1973-2002) show the standardized suicide mortality ratio for patients with lung cancer is the highest of all cancer types, 5.74 (95% CI  = 5.30-6.22), with hazard ratios of 6.04 (95% CI = 5.54-6.57) for men and 4.18 (95% CI = 3.27-5.27) for women [5].

Source: Lung Cancer - November 20, 2019 Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: B.L. Andersen, T.R. Valentine, S.B. Lo, D.P. Carbone, C.J. Presley, P.G. Shields Source Type: research