Research shows depression may shorten survival rate for women with breast cancer

New research from New Mexico State University shows that depression may reduce the survival chances of American women with breast cancer.

Jagdish Khubchandani, a professor of public health sciences at NMSU, led a study to understand the long-term effects of depression among U.S. women with breast cancer. Khubchandani’s study partners included the Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Walden University and the National Institute on Aging, a division of the U.S. National Institutes of Health.

“More than 4 million American women are living with breast cancer today, and more than a quarter of a million American women will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year. Unfortunately, a large proportion of women with breast cancer suffer from depression, poor mental health and lower quality of life,” said Khubchandani, the study’s lead author.

To complete the study, Khubchandani and the research team analyzed data from the 2005-2010 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and linked these health data to death certificates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The study, published this month in a special edition of Brain sciencesincluded a sample of 4,719 women aged 45 and older. Of this group, 5.1% had breast cancer and 12.7% had depression. The women were followed for 7.6 years to investigate long-term survival.

The researchers found that compared to women without breast cancer and depression, those who had only breast cancer or depression were 1.45 times or 1.43 times more likely to die, respectively. However, compared to those without breast cancer and depression, the risk of death was more than tripled for women with both breast cancer and depression.

“The combination greatly increases the risk of death and leads to thousands of years of lost life,” Khubchandani said. “We found in our study that co-occurring depression further reduces the survival rate of women with breast cancer. Unfortunately, many women with breast cancer do not receive timely and quality care for mental health issues such as depression.”

Using advanced models and analytics in the study, the researchers took into account sociodemographic, lifestyle and disease-related factors to rule out the influence of such factors. At the same time, the impact of depression on the survival of women with breast cancer was examined, Khubchandani said.

Khubchandani said certain characteristics are common among individuals at higher risk of dying from concurrent depression and breast cancer, including lower income and education, racial/ethnic minority status, other chronic diseases, or unhealthy lifestyles such as smoking and obesity. The research team recommended using collaborative care to address the multiple physical and psychosocial health needs of women at risk for breast cancer.

“We all know someone with breast cancer or will have someone with it in our lifetime,” Khubchandani said. “They’re likely to have poor psychological health or a lower quality of life. Part of that is because we don’t have a comprehensive approach to health care for women with cancer.”