Cancer Patients Who Receive Treatment for Depression Tend to Live Longer: Study

Treating depression in cancer patients helps increase their survival, according to a study.

British researchers from the Oxford and Edinburg Universities found almost 75 percent of people with cancer suffer from depression and are not given medications and mental treatment in the U.K. Mental distress and depression elevate their disease related symptoms. A new anti-depression therapy developed in Scotland tested on 21,000 cancer patients proved effective in improving the mental status of 60 percent of participants in just six months.

The subjects indulged in outdoor activities, played sports and received expert counselling on mental health, medications and boosting the quality of their life.

In addition, the experts examined the effects of the therapy on 500 lung cancer patients of whom 62 percent noticed drastic improvement in overall health and reduction of anxiety, pain and fatigue.

"We're talking about people having a combination of two illnesses. They often feel hopeless and negative and have suicidal thoughts. You can see they have worse physical symptoms, and there is evidence they have poorer survival rates," said Michael Sharpe, co-author and professor of Psychological Medicine at the University of Oxford, reports the Telegraph.

"They often feel hopeless and negative and have suicidal thoughts. You can see they have worse physical symptoms, and there is evidence they have poorer survival rates," said Sharpe.

"This trial shows that we can effectively treat depression in patients with poor prognosis cancers like lung cancer and really improve patient's lives," added Jane Walker, study author and researcher at the University of Oxford.

More information is available online in the journal Lancet.