Embargoed until March 23, 1999
Contact: Johanna Spangenberg (703) 527-424 [email protected]
Donna Krupa (703) 527-357 [email protected]
Newsroom: March 20-24, 1999
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San Francisco, CA
(415) 291-6640
WOMEN WITH OVARIAN CANCER FOUND TO HAVE HIGHER RATES OF DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY, RESULTING IN REDUCED QUALITY OF LIFE
Texas medical and behavioral researchers question patients with ovarian cancer to determine levels of depression and anxiety. Their results provide evidence that for optimum care, medical treatment for ovarian cancer should be supplemented by professional mental health. The findings of this study will be presented at the 30th Annual Meeting of the Society of Gynecologic Oncologists.
SAN FRANCISCO -- It is no surprise when physicians and family members discover that women diagnosed with ovarian cancer undergo varying mood swings. What had not been previously confirmed is that women diagnosed with this deadly disease suffer from clinical depression and anxiety at higher rates than the general population. This decline in mental health has a significant negative impact in patients' quality of life and their ability to return to work and other normal activities. Researchers at The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Medical Center offer their findings at the 30th anniversary meeting of the Society of Gynecologic Oncologists.
These results were released in a new study, "Depression May Worsen Quality of Life in Patients with Epithelial Ovarian Cancer." The researchers, all from The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, are Diane C. Bodurka-Bevers, MD; Karen Basen-Engquist, PhD; Cindy Carmack, PhD; Michael W. Bevers, MD; Judith K. Wolf, MD; Shaohua Hu, PhD; Charles Levenback, MD; David M. Gershenson, MD; and Mary A. Fitzgerald, MA.
Dr. Bodurka-Bevers will represent her colleagues as she presents the research results on March 23, 1999, at the 30th Annual Meeting of the Society of Gynecologic Oncologists (SGO) being held at the Hyatt Regency in Embarcadero Center, San Francisco, CA, March 20-24, 1999.
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Background: This year it is projected that 25,200 women will be diagnosed with epithelial ovarian cancer; additional estimates state that 14,500 women will succumb to this deadly disease. Treatment for ovarian cancer includes aggressive abdominal surgery, chemotherapy and/or radiation, and the uncertainty of cancer recurrence. Physicians have intuitively known that patients suffer from increased levels of stress when undergoing treatment. Additional stress for patients with an ovarian cancer diagnosis can lead to anxiety and depression characterized by fear of death, progression of the disease, and changing social relationships.
All these factors may have a significant impact on ovarian cancer patients' Quality of Life (QOL). QOL is a defined behavioral construct that includes physical, functional, psychological, and social domains. Sexuality/intimacy, treatment satisfaction, and occupational functioning may also be QOL factors.
Medical specialists and behavioral scientists suggest that any patient's QOL is an essential component in determining treatment response and rehabilitation needs. More importantly, a decline in the quality of life should signal to the physician that intervention by a mental health professional may be necessary. With ovarian cancer patients, this may be imperative for cancer patients experience a range of psychological symptoms including depression and anxiety more frequently than seen in the general population. Until now, there has been a lack of reliable information regarding the impact of ovarian cancer upon a woman's quality of life. The University of Texas study set about to identify the prevalence of depression and anxiety among cancer sufferers and examine the relationship of these symptoms to the quality of life.
Methodology: The study results were taken from the responses provided to the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy - Ovarian (FACT-O), a quality of life questionnaire designed for ovarian cancer patients. The study design included an assessment at two points: (1) patients completed an extensive baseline questionnaire that assessed quality of life and a range of psychological variables and (2) a follow-up measure of quality of life and performance status.
The study group consisted of 329 women seen on an outpatient basis for ovarian cancer at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center over a six month period. Some 232 women completed the questionnaire; the average age of that group was 57 years with 72% of the participants married.
Quality of Life (QOL) was measured using the FACT-O. The four areas specifically addressed physical, functional, social/family, and emotional well being. Depression was measured using the Center for Epidemiological Studies - Depression Scale and anxiety was measured using the state anxiety subscale of the Spielberger state-trait anxiety inventory. A linear regression analysis was used to measure the effect of depression and anxiety on QOL.
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Results: The questionnaire revealed the following:
* Women diagnosed with ovarian cancer experienced levels of depression and anxiety at higher levels than found in the general population.
* The results revealed that 21% of all patients recorded high depression scores. The highest scores recorded were among those suffering from disease recurrence or undergoing treatment for a newly diagnosed cancer.
* The levels of anxiety and depression predicted the patient's functional and emotional well-being but not other dimensions of quality of life.
Conclusion: The authors suggest that the study results demonstrate that physicians diagnosing women for gynecologic cancers should order a complete assessment, psychological as well as physical, for the treatment and rehabilitation of their patients.
The Society of Gynecologic Oncologists (SGO) is a professional society of physicians who specialize in gynecologic oncology. SGO is the only U.S. based medical organization dedicated to the prevention, detection and cure of female cancers. Gynecologic oncologists are cancer specialists trained in all the effective forms of treatment of gynecologic cancers (surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy and experimental treatments) as well as the biology and pathology of gynecologic cancers. The organization is comprised primarily of gynecologic oncologists as well as medical oncologists, radiation therapists and pathologists all of whom have a primary professional commitment to the treatment of women with gynecological malignancies including those of the ovaries, endometrium, uterus, cervix vagina, vulva and trophoblastic disease.
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(Editor's Note: For a complete copy of the complete manuscript or to schedule an interview with Dr. Bodurka-Bevers contact Johanna Spangenberg (703) 527-7424.)
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