Patients diagnosed with head and neck cancer experience symptoms of depression, which can make it difficult for them to manage treatment side effects, quit smoking, or maintain adequate nutrition or sleep habits. (Source: Thinkstock Images)Even mild depression among patients with head and neck cancer are associated with poorer overall survival, a new study has said. The findings of the study indicated that patients should be screened and treated for depressive symptoms at the time of diagnosis. To see if depressive symptoms might affect patients’ health outcomes, researchers studied 134 patients with head and neck cancers who reported depressive symptoms during the planning of their treatment. When they examined the patients’ clinical data over the following two years, they found that patients with greater depressive symptoms had shorter survival, higher rates of chemoradiation interruption and poorer treatment response.

Source: Indian Express January 22, 2018 09:01 UTC