Depression and cancer risk: 24 years of follow-up of the Baltimore Epidemiologic Catchment Area sample
Open accessAbstract
Objective The objective was to characterize the relationship between depression and incident cancer. Few studies have employed population-based prospective data on subtypes of cancer to address the question.Method A population-based sample of 3,177 cancer-free adults from the Baltimore Epidemiologic Catchment Area Study who have been followed for 24 years. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate relative hazards for both overall and subtype-specific cancers among those with a history of depression.Results The risk set contained 334 incident cancer cases and 40,530 person-years of observation. DIS/DSM-III major depression was associated with a higher hazard for overall cancer (HR: 1.9, 95% CI: 1.2, 3.0) and a statistically significant increased hazard for breast cancer (HR: 4.4, 95% CI: 1.08, 17.6) among women. There was a positive association between history of depression and prostate cancer, but confidence bounds included the null. No reliable associations were found between colon, lung, or skin cancers and depression. The pattern of results was similar for dysphoria, but not for phobia or any other mental disorder studied.Conclusions Results reveal a specificity to the association between depression and hormonally mediated cancers, which provides support to hypotheses about a common biological pathway between depression and cancer. Further research can build on observational studies to examine the mechanisms through which our emotions affect our health.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Major depressive disorder is a consistent predictor of the subsequent first onset of coronary artery disease, stroke, diabetes, heart attacks, and certain types of cancer, though evidence about major depressive disorder as a cause of physical disorders is spotty.
“we know from meta-analyses of longitudinal studies that MDD is a consistent predictor of the subsequent first onset of coronary artery disease,97, 98 stroke,99 diabetes,100 heart attacks ,101, 102 and certain types of cancer.103”
From The Costs of Depression (2012) · cites this paper as [102]
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
Williams, J. B. W., & First, M. B. (2013) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780199975839.013.104 · Cited by 109,841 · see citing works
Kessler, R. C. (1994) · Archives of General Psychiatry · doi:10.1001/archpsyc.1994.03950010008002 · Cited by 12,370 · see citing works
Hosmer, D. W., Lemeshow, S. A., & May, S. J. (2008) · Wiley series in probability and statistics · doi:10.1002/9780470258019 · Cited by 3,818 · see citing works
Applied Survival Analysis: Regression Modeling of Time-to-Event Data
Hosmer, D. W., Lemeshow, S. A., & May, S. J. (2008) · Cited by 3,030 · see citing works
(2003) · RePEc: Research Papers in Economics · Cited by 1,844 · see citing works
McEwen, B. S. (2000) · Brain Research · doi:10.1016/s0006-8993(00)02950-4 · Cited by 1,827 · see citing works
Chronic stress promotes tumor growth and angiogenesis in a mouse model of ovarian carcinoma
Thaker, P. H., Han, L. Y., Kamat, A. A., Arevalo, J. M., Takahashi, R., Lu, C., Jennings, N. B., Armaiz-Pena, G., Bankson, J. A., Ravoori, M., et al. (2006) · Nature Medicine · doi:10.1038/nm1447 · Cited by 1,320 · see citing works
The Relationship of Depression and Stressors to Immunological Assays: A Meta-Analytic Review
Zorrilla, E. P., Luborsky, L., McKay, J. R., Rosenthal, R., Houldin, A., Tax, A., McCorkle, R., Seligman, D. A., & Schmidt, K. (2001) · Brain, Behavior, and Immunity · doi:10.1006/brbi.2000.0597 · Cited by 995 · see citing works
Affective disorders in five United States communities
Weissman, M. M., Leaf, P. J., Tischler, G. L., Blazer, D. G., Karno, M., BRUCE, M. L., & Florio, L. P. (1988) · Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1017/s0033291700001975 · Cited by 625 · see citing works
Comparison of the Lay Diagnostic Interview Schedule and a Standardized Psychiatric Diagnosis
Anthony, J. C. (1985) · Archives of General Psychiatry · doi:10.1001/archpsyc.1985.01790300029004 · Cited by 558 · see citing works
Brenner, H. (2002) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(02)11199-8 · Cited by 543 · see citing works
Repair deficient human disorders and cancer
Setlow, R. B. (1978) · Nature · doi:10.1038/271713a0 · Cited by 477 · see citing works
Epidemiologic Field Methods in Psychiatry
(1985) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/c2009-0-02951-1 · Cited by 471 · see citing works
Role of the Serotonergic System in the Pathogenesis of Major Depression and Suicidal Behavior
Mann, J. J. (1999) · Neuropsychopharmacology · doi:10.1016/s0893-133x(99)00040-8 · Cited by 443 · see citing works
Chronically Depressed Mood and Cancer Risk in Older Persons
Penninx, B. W. J. H., Guralnik, J. M., Havlik, R. J., Pahor, M., Ferrucci, L., Cerhan, J. R., & Wallace, R. B. (1998) · JNCI Journal of the National Cancer Institute · doi:10.1093/jnci/90.24.1888 · Cited by 347 · see citing works
Eaton, W. W., Neufeld, K., Chen, L.-S., & Cai, G. (2000) · Archives of General Psychiatry · doi:10.1001/archpsyc.57.3.217 · Cited by 339 · see citing works
Self-citationLutgendorf, S. K., Cole, S. W., Costanzo, E. S., Bradley, S., Coffin, J. E., Jabbari, S., Rainwater, K. K., Ritchie, J. M., Yang, M., & Sood, A. K. (2003) · PubMed · Cited by 326 · see citing works
Epidemiologic Field Methods in Psychiatry: The NIMH Epidemiologic Catchment Area Program
Zimmerman, M. A. (1987) · American Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1176/ajp.144.6.819 · Cited by 276 · see citing works
Depression as a risk for cancer morbidity and mortality in a nationally representative sample.
Zonderman, A., Costa, P., & McCrae, R. (1989) · Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) · doi:10.1001/jama.1989.03430090053032 · Cited by 246 · see citing works
Early and chronic stress and their relation to breast cancer
JACOBS, J. R., & BOVASSO, G. B. (2000) · Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1017/s0033291799002020 · Cited by 169 · see citing works
Dopaminergic mechanism of antidepressant action in depressed patients
Willner, P., Hale, A. S., & Argyropoulos, S. (2005) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2004.12.010 · Cited by 169 · see citing works
Vogt, T. M., Pope, C., Mullooly, J. P., & Hollis, J. F. (1994) · American Journal of Public Health · doi:10.2105/ajph.84.2.227 · Cited by 162 · see citing works
Psychological States as Factors in the Development of Malignant Disease: A Critical Review 2
LeShan, L. L. (1959) · JNCI Journal of the National Cancer Institute · doi:10.1093/jnci/22.1.1 · Cited by 159 · see citing works
Prevalence and incidence of depressive disorder: the Baltimore ECA follow-up, 1981–2004
Eaton, W. W., Kalaydjian, A., Scharfstein, D. O., Mezuk, B., & Ding, Y. (2007) · Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica · doi:10.1111/j.1600-0447.2007.01017.x · Cited by 146 · see citing works
Self-citationDalton, S. O. (2002) · American Journal of Epidemiology · doi:10.1093/aje/155.12.1088 · Cited by 142 · see citing works
DEPRESSED MOOD AND DEVELOPMENT OF CANCER
Linkins, R. W., & Comstock, G. W. (1990) · American Journal of Epidemiology · doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a115739 · Cited by 142 · see citing works
Psycho-oncology and cancer: psychoneuroimmunology and cancer
Kiecolt-Glaser, J. K., Robles, T., Heffner, K. L., Loving, T. J., & Glaser, R. (2002) · Annals of Oncology · doi:10.1093/annonc/mdf655 · Cited by 128 · see citing works
Schwartz, A. G., & Ruckdeschel, J. C. (2005) · American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine · doi:10.1164/rccm.200502-235pp · Cited by 125 · see citing works
Depression and the development of cancer: a meta-analysis.
McGee, R., Williams, S., & Elwood, M. (1994) · Social Science & Medicine (1967) · doi:10.1016/0277-9536(94)90314-x · Cited by 123 · see citing works
Antidepressant-like effects of dopamine agonists in an animal model of depression
Muscat, R., Papp, M., & Willner, P. (1992) · Biological Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/0006-3223(92)90119-k · Cited by 119 · see citing works
A meta-analysis on depression and subsequent cancer risk
Oerlemans, M., van den Akker, M., Schuurman, A. G., Kellen, E., & Buntinx, F. (2007) · Clinical Practice and Epidemiology in Mental Health · doi:10.1186/1745-0179-3-29 · Cited by 117 · see citing works
Elevated Lung Cancer Risk among Persons with Depressed Mood
Knekt, P., Raitasalo, R., Heliövaara, M., Lehtinen, V., Pukkala, ., Teppo, L., Maatela, J., & Aromaa, A. (1996) · American Journal of Epidemiology · doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a008887 · Cited by 101 · see citing works
Effects of stress on methyltransferase synthesis: An important DNA repair enzyme.
Glaser, R., & al, E. (1985) · Health Psychology · doi:10.1037//0278-6133.4.5.403 · Cited by 99 · see citing works
Depression and cancer mortality and morbidity: Prospective evidence from the Alameda County study
Kaplan, G., & Reynolds, P. (1988) · Journal of behavioral medicine · doi:10.1007/bf00846165 · Cited by 96 · see citing works
Personality characteristics in males conducive to lung cancer
Kissen, D. M. (1963) · British Journal of Medical Psychology · doi:10.1111/j.2044-8341.1963.tb01262.x · Cited by 81 · see citing works
Effects of stress on methyltransferase synthesis: An important DNA repair enzyme.
Glaser, R., Thorn, B. E., Tarr, K. L., et al. (1985) · Health Psychology · doi:10.1037/0278-6133.4.5.403 · Cited by 80 · see citing works
Gallo, J. J., Armenian, H. K., snm, D. E. F., Eaton, W. W., & Khachaturian, A. S. (2000) · Cancer Causes & Control · doi:10.1023/a:1008987409499 · Cited by 77 · see citing works
Self-citationPsychological stress induces chemoresistance in breast cancer by upregulating mdr1
Su, F., Ouyang, N., Zhu, P., et al. (2005) · Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications · doi:10.1016/j.bbrc.2005.02.056 · Cited by 69 · see citing works
Precursors of premature disease and death: habits of nervous tension.
Cb, T., & Ol, M. (1980) · PubMed · Cited by 38 · see citing works
Differential regulation of the human MRP2 and MRP3 gene expression by glucocorticoids
Pułaski, Ł., Kania, K., Ratajewski, M., Uchiumi, T., Kuwano, M., & Bartosz, G. (2005) · The Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology · doi:10.1016/j.jsbmb.2005.03.004 · Cited by 34 · see citing works
Low-frequency mutation of Ha-ras and Ki-ras oncogenes in transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder.
Olderøy, G., Daehlin, L., & Øgreid, D. (1998) · PubMed · Cited by 29 · see citing works
Brewer, J. K. (2008) · Journal of Molecular Neuroscience · doi:10.1007/s12031-008-9078-2 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
Chen, Y. A., Lin, H., & Chou, P. (1996) · International Journal of Cancer · doi:10.1002/(sici)1097-0215(19960301)65:5 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Does depression increase susceptibility for somatic disease
Schuurman, A., van den Akker, M., Ensinck, K., et al. (2001) · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
The Epidemiology of Depression Across Cultures
Kessler, R. C., & Bromet, E. J. (2013) · Annual Review of Public Health · doi:10.1146/annurev-publhealth-031912-114409 · Cited by 2,657 · see citing works
Wang, Y.-H., Li, J.-Q., Shi, J.-F., Que, J.-Y., Liu, J.-J., Lappin, J. M., Leung, J., Ravindran, A. V., Chen, W.-Q., Qiao, Y.-L., et al. (2020) · Molecular Psychiatry · doi:10.1038/s41380-019-0595-x · Cited by 885 · see citing works
Kessler, R. C. (2012) · Psychiatric Clinics of North America · doi:10.1016/j.psc.2011.11.005 · Cited by 871 · see citing works
Batty, G. D., Russ, T. C., Stamatakis, E., & Kivimäki, M. (2017) · BMJ · doi:10.1136/bmj.j108 · Cited by 377 · see citing works
Dew, M. A., Rosenberger, E. M., Myaskovsky, L., DiMartini, A. F., DeVito Dabbs, A. J., Posluszny, D. M., Steel, J., Switzer, G. E., Shellmer, D. A., & Greenhouse, J. B. (2015) · Transplantation · doi:10.1097/tp.0000000000000901 · Cited by 304 · see citing works
Depression as a Risk Factor for Cancer: From Pathophysiological Advances to Treatment Implications
Currier, M. B., & Nemeroff, C. B. (2014) · Annual Review of Medicine · doi:10.1146/annurev-med-061212-171507 · Cited by 126 · see citing works
O'Callaghan-Gordo, C., Kogevinas, M., Cirach, M., Castaño-Vinyals, G., Aragonés, N., Delfrade, J., Fernández-Villa, T., Amiano, P., Dierssen-Sotos, T., Tardon, A., et al. (2018) · International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health · doi:10.1016/j.ijheh.2018.07.014 · Cited by 63 · see citing works
Baxter, A. J., Page, A., & Whiteford, H. A. (2011) · Epidemiology Research International · doi:10.1155/2011/832945 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
- Authors
- Gross, A. L., Gallo, J. J., & Eaton, W. W.
- Affiliations
- Johns Hopkins University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Gross, Alden L.
- Venue
- Cancer Causes & Control
- Published
- 2009-11-03
- Volume
- 21
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 191-199
- ISSN
- 0957-5243 (ISSN-L)
- 1573-7225
- PMC
- PMC2872112
- OpenAlex
- W2079470858
- Cited by
- 152
- References
- 44
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 20 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 16 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 9 · 2016: 9 · 2015: 10 · 2014: 7 · 2013: 10 · 2012: 9
- FWCI
- 3.29
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- Cancer Causes & Control (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute of Mental Health (F31-MH78443, R01 MH47447, R01MH047447, T32MH-14592, F31MH078443, T32MH014592)
- National Institute on Drug Abuse (R01DA026652)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Cancer, Stress, Anesthesia, and Immune Response
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › Cancer Risks and Factors
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › Cancer survivorship and care
- Keywords
- depression, cancer risk, breast cancer, prostate cancer, dysphoria, phobia, tumor subtypes
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Depressive Disorder, Female, Follow-Up Studies, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Neoplasms, Risk Factors, Baltimore, Proportional Hazards Models, Risk Assessment, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Young Adult
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
