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Researchers from the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center have concluded that symptoms of depression are linked to shorter survival times among cancer patients.

Their findings are published in the Aug. 1 edition of PLoS ONE.

Researchers examined surveys completed over a five-year period by 217 patients who were newly diagnosed with kidney cancer that had spread. The participants answered questions about how religious and spiritual they were. They were also asked about their symptoms of depression, social support, quality of life and coping skills and provided blood samples as well as five saliva samples daily for three days. The researchers used the saliva samples to track changes in the patients' levels of cortisol, a stress hormone that is usually high in the morning before dropping throughout the day.

During the study, 64 percent of the patients died. The average amount of time these patients survived after being diagnosed was 1.8 years.

The study revealed that 23 percent of patients were clinically depressed and researchers noted that depression was associated with shorter survival time. The study also showed that higher than usual cortisol levels throughout the day were also linked to shorter survival among the cancer patients.

"Our findings, and those of others, suggest that mental health and social well-being can affect biological processes, which influence cancer-related outcomes," said Lorenzo Cohen, a professor in the center's departments of general oncology and behavioral science, and director of the Integrative Medicine Program.

Researchers also suggest that screening for mental health should be part of standard care because there are well-accepted ways of helping people manage distress, even in the face of a life-threatening illness.

The researchers noted that the study was limited by the fact that it's difficult to determine if patients' stress or symptoms of depression are influenced by other factors or were present before their cancerdiagnosis. While the study uncovered an association between depression and cancer survival, it did not prove a cause-and-effect relationship.

More research is needed to investigate if the treatment of depression can improve survival time among cancer patients with mild, moderate or severe mood disorders, the authors added.