Patients with depression solely before breast cancer diagnosis have lower odds of receiving guideline
recommended treatment and have worse survival, according to a study published in Cancer. Feitong Lei,
PhD, and colleagues identified women diagnosed with primary invasive breast cancer who were aged 20 or
older to examine the impact of depression on cancer treatment and survival. Patients were categorized as
having no depression, depression before cancer diagnosis only, depression after cancer diagnosis only,
or persistent depression. Overall, 4.1%, 3.7%, and 6.2% of the 6,054 eligible patients had persistent
depression, depression pre-diagnosis only, and depression post-diagnosis only, respectively. A total of
29.2% of patients did not receive guideline-recommended cancer treatment. The odds of receiving
guideline-recommended treatment were lower in patients with depression only in the pre-diagnosis
period (OR, 0.75; 95% CI, 0.54-1.04), but not in those with depression only in the post-diagnosis period
or persistent depression, compared with those with no depression.

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