- Mpox Spread in Congo May Be Slowing
- Fish Oil Supplements Might Help Prevent Cancer
- A Visit to the ER Can Often Precede a Cancer Diagnosis
- Medicaid Covers GLP-1 Meds for Obesity in Just 13 States
- Why Treatments Can Fail Folks With ‘Wet’ Macular Degeneration — and What Might Really Work
- Banning Menthol Cigarettes Might Drive Smokers to Quit-Smoking Therapies
- Diabetes Can Damage Your Eyes’ Retinas: An Expert Explains
- Higher Heart Rate May Help Spur A-fib in Black Patients
- In a National First, an Idaho Health Department Is Refusing to Give COVID Vaccines
- ‘Dawson’s Creek’ Star James Van Der Beek Has Colon Cancer
Depressed Women Less Likely to Get Best Breast Cancer Care: Study
Breast cancer patients with a history of depression are less likely to receive recommended care for their disease, a new study finds.
The study included more than 45,000 Danish women diagnosed with early stage breast cancer between 1998 and 2011. Of those, 13 percent had been treated with antidepressants and 2 percent had previously visited a hospital for depression.
Compared with those who never took antidepressants, patients who used antidepressants were much less likely to receive recommended breast cancer treatments and had shorter overall survival, according to Dr. Nis Suppli, of the Danish Cancer Society Research Center in Copenhagen, Denmark, and colleagues.
In addition, the researchers found that antidepressant use was tied to shorter breast cancer-specific survival: five years after cancer diagnosis, 13 percent of patients who used antidepressants had died of breast cancer, compared to 11 percent of those who never took the drugs.
The study authors suggest that the lower survival rate among those who took antidepressants is due to the fact that they are less likely to receive recommended breast cancer treatments.
The findings were published online this week in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, a publication of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).
“These findings suggest that women with prior depression may be vulnerable to receiving sub-standard breast cancer care,” said Dr. Harold Burstein, an ASCO expert in breast cancer.
“While the reasons for this are unknown, this study serves as a call for clinicians to provide careful attention to the treatment and follow-up care of this population,” Burstein said.
“Women with mental health needs may require assistance in making treatment decisions and navigating the health care system,” he added in an ASCO news release.
More information
The U.S. National Cancer Institute has more on breast cancer.
Source: HealthDay
Copyright © 2024 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Related
-
-120x134.jpg)
More Hot Flashes Could Mean Higher Odds for Type 2 DiabetesMenopausal women with frequent hot flashes and night sweats...
- November 4, 2024
-
Late-Life Menopause Linked to Higher Asthma RiskWomen who enter menopause at a later age have...
- October 30, 2024
-
Biden Proposes That Insurers Cover Over-the-Counter Birth ControlHealth insurers would be required to cover the cost...
- October 21, 2024
-
Some IUDs May Raise The Odds for Breast Cancer, But Overall Risk Remains LowIntrauterine devices (IUDs) may raise the chances of a...
- October 18, 2024
-200x224.jpg)
