ASTRO: Cancer-Specific Mortality Elevated for Patients With Cancer and Depression

MONDAY, Oct. 5, 2026 (HealthDay News) — The risk for cancer-specific mortality (CSM) is significantly higher for patients with cancer and preexisting depression, according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO), held from Sept. 26 to 30 in Boston.

Edmund M. Qiao, M.D., from the University of California San Diego in La Jolla, and colleagues examined associations between preexisting depression and CSM in a mixed-tumor cohort using data from Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results-Medicare. Data were included for 254,029 patients with prostate, breast, colorectal, non-small cell lung, or bladder cancer from 2010 to 2017; 22 percent had preexisting depression.

The researchers found that patients with depression had a significantly higher risk for CSM (subdistribution hazard ratio [SHR], 1.24). Among patients with depression, 62, 4, and 36 percent received no treatment within eight weeks of cancer diagnosis, received psychotherapy, and received antidepressants, respectively. The risk for CSM was significantly lower in association with psychotherapy within one week of cancer diagnosis (SHR, 0.73), while those receiving antidepressants also had a significantly lower risk (SHR, 0.93). There was an attenuation of effects seen with a longer interval from cancer diagnosis; psychotherapy at eight weeks was associated with a lower risk for CSM (SHR, 0.86), while the association with antidepressants was no longer significant.

“Our findings suggest that earlier screening and referral for psychotherapy could help address an important gap in comprehensive cancer care,” Qiao said in a statement.

Several authors disclosed ties to the biopharmaceutical industry.

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