Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Prostate cancer

Depression and prostate cancer—why do they show up together?

Nature Reviews Urology volume 11, pages 547–548 (2014)Cite this article

Subjects

Patients with prostate cancer are known to be affected by higher levels of depression than their peers. Patients with this combination are less likely to undergo definitive treatment and have lower rates of survival. A new study has investigated the likelihood of a diagnosis of depression prior to prostate cancer.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Prasad, S. M. et al. Effect of depression on diagnosis, treatment and mortality of men with clinically localized prostate cancer. J. Clin. Oncol. 32, 2471–2478 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Sharpley, C. F., Bitsika, V. & Christie, D. R. H. Psychological distress among prostate cancer patients: Fact or fiction. Clin. Med. Oncol. 2, 563–572 (2008).

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  3. Reiche, E. M. V., Nunes, S. O. V. & Morimoto, H. K. Stress, depression, the immune system, and cancer. Lancet Oncol. 5, 617–625 (2004).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Kiecolt, J. K., Robles, T. F., Heffner, K. L. & Glaser, R. Psycho-oncology and cancer: psychoneuroimmunology and cancer. Ann. Oncol. 13, 165–169 (2002).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Di Matteo, R. M., Lepper, H. S. & Croghan, T. W. Depression is a risk factor for non-compliance with medical treatment.: Meta-analysis of the effects of anxiety and depression on patient adherence. Arch. Intern. Med. 160, 2101–2107 (2000).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Pinquart, M. & Duberstein, P. R. Depression and cancer mortality: a meta-analysis. Psychol. Med. 40, 11, 1797–1810 (2010).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Sharpley, C. F., Bitsika, V. & Christie, D. R. H. Do prostate cancer patients suffer more from depressed mood or anhedonia? Psycho-Oncol. 22, 1718–1723 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Berry, D. L. et al. Factors that predict treatment choice and satisfaction with the decisions in men with localized prostate cancer. Clin. Genitourin. Cancer 5, 219–226 (2006).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Sharpley, C. F., Christie, D. R. H. & Bitsika, V. Do hormone treatments for prostate cancer cause anxiety and depression? Int. J. Clin. Oncol. 19, 523–530 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Sharpley, C. F., Bitsika, V. & Christie, D. R. H. Do patient-reported androgen deprivation therapy side effects predict anxiety and depression among prostate cancer patients undergoing radiotherapy? Implications for psychosocial therapy interventions. J. Psychosoc. Oncol. 30, 185–197 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Genesiscare, John Flynn Hospital, Inland Drive, Tugun, Gold Coast, 4224, QLD, Australia

    David R. H. Christie

  2. Brain-Behaviour Research Group, University of New England, Armidale, 2351, NSW, Australia

    Christopher F. Sharpley

Authors
  1. David R. H. Christie
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Christopher F. Sharpley
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to David R. H. Christie.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Christie, D., Sharpley, C. Depression and prostate cancer—why do they show up together?. Nat Rev Urol 11, 547–548 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrurol.2014.226

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrurol.2014.226

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing