Prostate cancer patients treated with a hormone therapy are at a greater risk of slipping into depression besides other potential side effects including sexual dysfunction and weight gain, according to a new research.
"We know that patients on hormone therapy often experience decreased sexual function, weight gain and have less energy - many factors that could lead to depression," said Paul Nguyen from Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) in the US.
"After taking a deeper look, we discovered a significant association between men being treated with androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) for PCa and depression," said Nguyen.
The relationship was found after researchers reviewed data from 1992 to 2006 of 78,552 men over the age of 65 with stage I to III PCa.
They studied the association between ADT and a diagnosis of depression or confirmation of inpatient or outpatient psychiatric treatment.
"It is important not only for patients to know the potential side effects of the drugs they are taking, but also for the physicians to be aware of this risk in order to recognise signs of depression in these patients and refer them for appropriate care," Nguyen added.
Additionally, they looked at the association between duration of ADT and depression.
When compared to patients who did not receive the therapy, researchers found that the patients who received ADT had higher incidences of depression and inpatient and outpatient psychiatric treatment.
Analysis demonstrated that patients who received ADT had a 23 per cent increased risk of depression, a 29 per cent increased risk of inpatient psychiatric treatment, and a non-significant 7 per cent increased risk of outpatient psychiatric treatment when compared with patients not being treated with ADT, researchers said.
The risk of depression increased with the duration of ADT, from 12 per cent with less than six months to 26 per cent from 7 to 11 months of treatment, to 37 per cent with patients being treated for 12 months or longer, they said.
A similar duration effect was seen for inpatient and outpatient psychiatric treatment.
The findings were published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
