Coping with a cancer diagnosis can contribute to psychological and cardiovascular problems in family members

New research suggests that a cancer diagnosis in a family member may increase the risk of psychological and cardiovascular illnesses in first-degree relatives and spouses. The findings are published in the diary Cancer.

Having a family member diagnosed with cancer can be a stressful and traumatic experience for the entire family. Because stress affects not only mental health but also cardiovascular health, researchers investigated whether a cancer diagnosis contributes to negative psychological and cardiovascular outcomes in family members.

Using data from the Utah Population Database, researchers identified 77,938 first-degree relatives and partners of 49,284 individuals diagnosed with reproductive cancer between 1990 and 2015. They then compared them to 81,022 relatives and partners of 246,775 individuals who had not been diagnosed with cancer.

The team found that 7.1% of family members and spouses developed a mental health condition within 5 years of a family member’s cancer diagnosis, and 7.6% were diagnosed with cardiovascular disease. Compared with controls, they had 10%, 5% and 4% higher risks of developing a mental health condition 1, 3 and 5 years after a family member’s cancer diagnosis. They also had 28%, 16% and 14% higher risks of developing cardiovascular disease 1, 3 and 5 years.

Parents of children with cancer had the highest risk of developing negative health outcomes, with a nearly 4-fold higher risk after 1 year compared to other family members. Also, a diagnosis of kidney or bladder cancer was the most stressful of all genital and urinary tract cancers, while testicular cancer was the least stressful.

“A cancer diagnosis is a life-changing event for patients and their families. With our group’s unique access to the Utah Population Database, we were able to create multigenerational networks that highlight the impact of a cancer diagnosis on families,” said lead author Mouneeb Choudry, MD, of the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix, Arizona. “As health care professionals, we need to take a multidisciplinary approach to address the stress of a cancer diagnosis by helping to reduce the financial toxicity, treatment burden, and emotional impact on both the patient and their family.”