MDNews - San Antonio

IMPROVING SYMPTOMS OF DEPRESSION IN LUNG CANCER PATIENTS IS A SSOCIATED WITH LONGER SURVIVAL, ACCORDING TO A RECENT STUDY. THE FINDINGS HIGHLIGHT THE NEED FOR ONCOLOGY PHYSICIANS TO ADDRESS MENTAL HE ALTH ISSUES THEIR PATIENTS MAY BE FACING, E XPERTS SAY. APPROXIMATELY 15™25 PERCENT of all cancer patients experience symptoms of depression at some point, according to the National Cancer Institute. A study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology suggests that resolving depression symptoms tends to lengthen survival in patients who have lung cancer, the leading cause of cancer deaths among men and women alike. Researchers followed 1,790 patients newly diagnosed with lung cancer who participated in the Cancer Care Outcomes Research & Surveillance Consortium study. Assessed on the eight-item version of the CES-D depression symptom scale f ive months af ter diagnosis, 681 par- ticipa nts (38 percent) had symptoms of depression at the baseline survey. At the time of the follow-up survey seven months later, an additional 105 patients had new-onset depression symptoms. Researchers found the odds of dying from lung cancer within a year of diag- nosis were 42 percent greater among patients with depression symptoms at baseline compared with those who had no symptoms, and 50 percent greater for patients who had new-onset symptoms after seven months. "A surprising fi nding was that people who had remission of their depression from the baseline visit to follow-up had the same morta lity rate as those who were never depressed," says lead author Dona ld Sulliva n, MD, M A , Assista nt Professor in the Division of Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine at Oregon Health & Science University. The fi ndings have additional relevance in light of the frequency of depression among lung cancer patients. They have depression or symptoms of depression at higher rates than people with any other cancer type, Dr. Sullivan points out. Among possible explanations for that, he says, is the social perspective that lung cancer is often a self-infl icted disease. In consequence, patients may generate less sympathy, and research funding may su er. That combination, Sullivan adds, results in inferior screening techniques that hinder early detection and lead to more deaths. TREATING THE WHOLE DISEASE It is crucial that physicians be alert to the psychological as well as physiological e ects of cancer, says Paul Duberstein, PhD, Professor of Psychiatry, Medicine and Family Medicine at the University of Rochester Medical Center. "If you are an oncologist and think that it isn't part of your job to listen to your patients talk about their inner lives, their depression, their sadness, I urge you to reconsider," Duberstein says. "As Sullivan and col- leagues show, depression can be lethal." ■ " Empathetic listening is what I talk about among lung cancer providers. You may ask how they are doing, but really ask how they're doing overall." ¢ DONALD SULLIVAN, MD, MA, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR IN THE DIVISION OF PULMONARY & CRITICAL CARE MEDICINE AT OREGON HEALTH & SCIENCE UNIVERSITY BY TREVOR WILLINGHAM STUDY FINDS SURVIVAL BENEFIT for Lung Cancer Patients Whose Depression Improves 2 2

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