Could improving mental health disorders help increase cancer survival?
Menée à partir de données des registres américains des cancers et de la base Medicare portant sur 13 244 patients atteints d'un lymphome diffus à grandes cellules B et âgés de plus de 67 ans (durée médiane de suivi : 2 ans), cette étude analyse l'effet, sur la survie, d'une dépression et/ou de symptômes d'anxiété antérieurs au diagnostic de cancer
The Article by Thomas Kuczmarski and colleagues in The Lancet Haematology is the first in several decades to carefully consider the association between common pre-existing mental health disorders and survival outcomes in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. Previous studies have explored the possibility of a relationship using smaller cohorts of patients with Hodgkin lymphoma, acute myeloid leukaemia, or less common blood cancers, but by comparison this new study of patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma is substantially larger. Using data from the US Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results Program (SEER) linked to Medicare claims data for those aged 67 years or older, the researchers assembled a cohort of 13 244 patients. The authors focused on anxiety and depression—the two most common mental health diagnoses—finding that one in six patients had been diagnosed with either disorder in the 2 years before their B-cell lymphoma diagnosis. Moreover, the presence of either or both disorders was associated with a subsequent decreased overall survival and 5-year lymphoma-specific survival. The authors consider delayed cancer treatments and barriers to adherence as likely explanations for these disparities, and recommend clinicians undertake comprehensive psychosocial assessments at diagnosis to identify patients at risk and develop psychological interventions to improve their subsequent survival.
The Lancet Haematology , commentaire, 2022