Boost for cancer depressed

Published on Friday 4 July 2008 10:37

RESEARCHERS have developed a treatment to help cancer patients who suffer from depression.

The programme has been led by Cancer Research UK and is tipped to improve the quality of life of sufferers significantly.

Professor Michael Sharpe, from the psychological medicine research group at Edinburgh University, which carried out the study, said: “Ten per cent of cancer patients experience clinical depression and it is not always adequately treated.

“This new treatment could substantially improve the way we manage depression in people with cancer, and also in people with other serious medical conditions. This is the first time that this type of depression treatment has been evaluated in cancer patients and the results are encouraging.”

The researchers found that, after three months of receiving the treatment, almost 20 per cent fewer patients were depressed, compared with patients who received standard NHS treatment. The difference was still evident after one year.

Dr Lesley Walker, of Cancer Research UK, said: “The charity is committed to improving the quality of life for people living with the disease.”