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Cancer diagnosis increased risk for suicide, cardiovascular death
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A diagnosis of cancer was associated with an immediate increase in the risk for suicide and cardiovascular death compared with cancer-free patients, according to the results of a historical cohort study of Swedish patients.
“Our findings suggest that a cancer diagnosis constitutes a major stressor, one that immediately affects the risk of critical fatal outcomes,” the researchers wrote. “We speculate that our findings show only a portion of the range of effects induced by the emotional distress associated with a cancer diagnosis.”
The researchers looked at historical data from more than 6 million Swedish participants to determine whether the risk for death from suicide or cardiovascular disease was more prevalent in patients who were recently diagnosed with cancer.
Researchers followed participants from 1991, or their 30th birthday, until death, emigration or 2006. Of those participants, more than 500,000 received a diagnosis of cancer. During follow-up, the incidence rate of suicide among those who were diagnosed with cancer was 2.5 per 1,000 person-years vs. 0.18 per 1,000 person-years among those who were not diagnosed with cancer.
Twenty-nine of the suicides among cancer patients occurred within a week of diagnosis (RR=12.6; 95% CI, 8.6-17.8). During the first 12 weeks after diagnosis, the RR was 4.8 (95% CI, 4-5.8). The greatest risk was among patients diagnosed with esophageal, liver or pancreatic cancer (RR=16; 95% CI, 9.2-25.5), and lung cancer (RR=12.3; 95% CI, 7.4-18.9).
The first week after diagnosis also conferred a greater risk for cardiovascular death (RR=5.6; 95%, 5.2-5.9), with an incidence rate of 116.8 per 1,000 person-years among those diagnosed with cancer vs. 65.81 per 1,000 person-years in cancer-free participants. These results, if further validated, could affect the communication of cancer diagnosis and the use of organized supportive care, the researchers concluded.
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