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The link between chronic stress and depression has been established for some time.1 Major physical illness represents such a chronic stressor, and people who suffer from such illnesses have been shown to be at an increased risk of developing depression.2 Perhaps, one of the most feared of all illnesses is cancer.3 Among Australian men, the most common form of cancer is prostate cancer (PCa).4 Meta-analytic data indicate that PCa patients suffer depression at a prevalence of 18.44% following treatment,5 several times higher than the 3% to 4% prevalence in men of similar ages from the general population.6 Depression in PCa patients adds to their overall disease burden and may also impede their recovery from PCa.7 Although most of the endpoints that have been measured in studies of depression in these men have been associated with medical and surgical costs, plus mortality,7 the links with the wider biological consequences of this elevated depression are also of value when formulating a comprehensive model of PCa depression. |
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