This analy cal, cross-sec onal study applied a quan ta ve approach to verify the presence of depression and the adherence to a chemotherapy treatment in pa ents with cancer at the central chemotherapy pharmacy of a university hospital. The sample consisted of 102 pa ents, and data were collected from October 2010 to May 2011. A structured interview was used to obtain sociodemographic, clinical and therapeu c data; the Morisky Test and Beck Depression Inventory were also applied. The results revealed that 10.8% and 1.9% of par cipants had moderate and severe depression, respec vely. The presence of depression was signifi cantly associated with variables such as income per capita, the number of surgeries, and disease dura on. A lack of treatment adherence was iden fi ed in 48% of par cipants. These results indicate the need for health staff training to detect depressive disorders and chemotherapy treatment a ri on among pa ents with cancer.