Depressed men with prostate cancer are diagnosed with later stage disease, and get less effective therapies

Depressed men with localized prostate cancer were more likely to be diagnosed with more aggressive prostate cancer, received less effective treatments and survived for shorter times than prostate cancer patients who were not depressed, a UCLA study has found. The negative outcomes may be the result of several factors such as bias against the mentally ill, depression's impact on biological cancer processes, the depressed man's lack of investment in his general health and disinterest in receiving more effective care, and missed opportunities by physicians to educate patients about prostate cancer screening and treatment, said study lead author Dr. Jim Hu, UCLA's Henry E. Singleton Professor of Urology and director of robotic and minimally invasive surgery at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. Read more here.