New research suggests that lung cancer patients with elevated depression and inflammation at diagnosis have continuing levels of depression during the next eight months.
By Kelli Trinoskey
Ohio State College of Medicine
Even if they have access to new, promising therapies, recent research shows that lung cancer patients who have a combination of elevated levels of depression and inflammation at diagnosis have continuing levels of depression during the next eight months, suggests data just published online in the journal Biopsychosocial Science and Medicine.
In the research, Barbara Andersen, PhD, professor of psychology at The Ohio State University, and colleagues at The Ohio State University College of Medicine and The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC – James), expand the understanding of the interplay between mental and physiological health. And they add to existing evidence that shows that individuals with significant depressive symptoms or major depressive disorder may also have elevated systemic inflammation.
“Inflammation is an 'enabling’ characteristic that is key to cancer onset and progression,” Dr. Andersen says. “Lung cancer is a product of a dysfunctional immune system, as evidenced by tobacco/smoking-induced inflammation, an inflammatory tumor microenvironment and robust, systemic inflammatory responses.”