Findings of a large new study point to the potentially devastating impact of a cancer diagnosis on the mental health of a patient’s partner and the importance of involving family members in treatment.
The study of Danish men showed that men whose partners were diagnosed with breast cancer were significantly more likely to be hospitalized with an affective disorder than men whose partners did not have breast cancer. The results are reported in the September 27 online edition of Cancer.
Christoffer Johansen, MD, PhD, DSc(Med), of the Institute of Cancer Epidemiology, Copenhagen, Denmark, and his coworkers reviewed data on 1,162,596 men who were 30 years or older, lived in Denmark, had not been hospitalized for an affective disorder, and had lived with the same partner for 5 or more years.
During 13 years of follow up, partners of 20,538 men were diagnosed with breast cancer. Men whose partners had breast cancer were at 39% greater risk of being hospitalized for major depression, bipolar disease, or other affective disorder than men whose partners did not have breast cancer. Men with partners with severe breast cancer were at greater risk than those who partners had less severe cases. Men whose partners had a relapse were also at greater risk than those whose partners who remained cancer-free. Men whose partners died after breast cancer had a 3.6-fold increased risk of developing an affective disorder than those whose partners survived.
“A diagnosis of breast cancer not only affects the life of the patient but may also seriously affect the partner,” Johansen said in a press release. “We suggest that some sort of screening of the partners of cancer patients in general and of those of breast cancer patients in particular for depressive symptoms might be important for preventing this devastating consequence of cancer.”