UofL research finds depressive symptoms linked to shorter survival in patients with head and neck cancer

In a study of patients with head and neck cancer, even mild depressive symptoms were associated with poorer overall survival. Published early online today in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the findings indicate that patients should be screened and treated for depressive symptoms at the time of diagnosis. In addition, studies should examine parallel biological pathways linking depression to cancer survival.

Many patients diagnosed with head and neck cancer experience symptoms of depression, which can make it difficult for them to manage treatment side effects, quit smoking, or maintain adequate nutrition or sleep habits. A team led by Elizabeth Cash, Ph.D., of the University of Louisville School of Medicine, was interested to see if depressive symptoms might also affect patients’ health outcomes.

The researchers studied 134 of these patients being treated at the UofL James Graham Brown Cancer Center multidisciplinary head and neck clinic from October 2012 to October 2013 who reported depressive symptoms during the planning of their treatment. In this group, 67.2 percent expressed measurable depressive symptoms. When the investigators examined the patients’ clinical data over the following two years, they found that patients with greater depressive symptoms had shorter survival, higher rates of chemo-radiation interruption, and poorer treatment response.

“We observed that head and neck cancer patients who reported more depressive symptoms at their initial appointment were more likely to miss scheduled treatment appointments and were more likely to have tumors that persisted after medical treatment,” said Cash, who serves as the director of research for the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery and Communicative Disorders at UofL. “We also observed that patients with depressive symptoms suffered greater two-year overall mortality rates, and this was especially true for those who did not achieve optimal response to medical treatment.”

Poorer treatment response partially explained the depression-survival relationship; however, there were no significant effects from factors commonly used to determine cancer prognosis — such as the patient’s age, the stage of tumor advancement or extent of smoking history.

“This suggests that depressive symptoms may be as powerful as the clinical features that physicians typically use to determine the prognosis of patients with head and neck cancer,” Cash said.

She also noted that most patients in the study did not meet criteria for diagnosis of major depressive disorder, suggesting that even mild symptoms of depression may interfere with head and neck cancer treatment outcomes. She said that while the findings need to be replicated in a larger study, they do suggest that depressive symptoms may affect head and neck cancer patients’ survival through mechanisms that potentially coincide with the activities of their tumor.

“We want patients to know that it is normal to get depressed when they are diagnosed, but it is important to seek help for any depression symptoms because (not doing so) may lead to poorer outcomes related to their cancer treatment,” Cash said.

She and her colleagues are hopeful that this information can facilitate discussions between patients and psycho-oncologists or behavioral oncology specialists to expedite the development of targeted behavioral interventions, which may have high potential to complement medical treatment efficacy.