Cancer patients need better treatment for depression -
By Sally Robertson , B.Sc.
the results of three research studies have shown that nearly three quarters of cancer patients with major depression do not receive treatment for their depression and a newly developed medical program has proven more effective than standard treatment in reducing depression in these patients.
As indicated in The Lancet Psychiatry , an analysis of data from more than 21,000 patients in clinics in Scotland, UK, found that the prevalence of major depression in patients cancer ranged from 6% in those with genitourinary cancer to 13% in people with lung cancer. However, nearly three quarters of patients with major depression were not receiving treatment to solve the problem.
"major depression is very common in people with cancer and the discovery may -being surprising is that most of it goes untreated, "says lead author Michael Sharpe, University of Oxford, who adds that" the result with usual care is poor. "
a second article published in the Lancet , reports on the results form the oncology-2 randomized trial SMaRT which examined the effects of a new medical program called "depression care for people with cancer" ( DCPC). This systematic program integrates the care of specialized oncology nurses and psychiatrists with the patient's cancer care involves the use of two antidepressants and psychological therapy.
trial, which involved 500 patients with major depression, but a good prognosis of cancer, showed that DCPC was significantly more effective in treating depression than standard care. . At 6 months, the severity of the depression was at least halved in 62% of those who received DCPC, against only 17% of those who received standard care
Sharpe said:
the huge advantage that DCPC provides for patients with cancer and depression shows what we can achieve for patients if we take as much care with the treatment of their depression as we do with the treatment of their cancer
another study published in the Lancet Oncology describes a version of the DCPC which was adjusted for lung cancer patients with major depression who had a bad rather than good prognosis cancer. For 32 weeks, followed by 142 patients, adjusted DCPC was considered much more effective for improving depression patients than usual care was.
"We have described a new approach to depressed cancer management patients is based on the shortcomings of usual care and integrated care against cancer, which really are quite spectacular effects in prognosis patient and also efficacy in poor prognosis patients, "says Sharpe.
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