Discoveries
Link found between depression and death among patients receiving stem cell transplants for blood cancers
It has long been known that people who have heart disease or cancer, or who have received a solid-organ transplant, are more likely to die earlier if they are depressed. A study by researchers at Dana-Farber and the Medical College of Wisconsin has found the same trend among blood cancer patients who receive stem cell transplants.
The study involved 193 adult patients with leukemia, myeloma, or lymphoma who had undergone stem cell transplants at Dana-Farber. The patients filled out questionnaires used for determining depressive symptoms, and 67 of them — 35 percent of the total group — reported symptoms of depression.
Researchers again surveyed the depressed and non-depressed patients a year after their transplants. About 70 percent of those with depressive symptoms at six months still had them at one year. A statistical analysis found the survival rate for patients with depressive symptoms was 85 percent, while the survival rate for non-depressed patients was 94 percent. That difference was considered statistically significant, even after factoring in such considerations as patients' physical and mental health, relapse, and complications of the procedure.
The work will lead to further studies to determine if death rates can be brought down by treating depressed patients with medication or psychotherapy.
Contributing to the study were Dana-Farber researchers Stephanie Lee, MD, MPH, Joseph Antin, MD, and Jane Weeks, MD, MSc. The findings were presented at the American Society of Hematology meeting in December.
