Prevalence and Influence on Prognosis of Mental Health Comorbidities in Long-term Breast Cancer Survivors: Results From the Surbcan Study

Abstract

Aim The increase in survival of patients with breast cancer has largely been due to early detection and treatment advances, which has led to longer follow-up and treatment of these patients. The principal aim of this work is to describe the presence of mental health comorbidities and analyze their influence on survival in women who are long-term breast cancer survivors. Methods This retrospective multicenter cohort study is part of the SURBCAN Study, a cohort of 4,088 women who are long-term breast cancer survivors diagnosed between 2000 and 2006 who were followed-up on between 2012 and 2016. A descriptive analysis of the study population’s characteristics and prevalence of mental health comorbidities was performed. A Cox regression analysis was performed to study the influence of mental health comorbidity on all-cause mortality. Results A total of 42.2% of patients presented with at least one mental health comorbidity, notable among which were anxiety disorders and depression and mood disorders, with a prevalence of 37.6% and 21.1%, respectively. The presence of a mental health comorbidity was associated with a poor prognosis (HR: 2.13; 95% CI: 1.70–2.66), as was more advanced tumor stages. Conclusions The presence of mental health comorbidities in women who are long-term breast cancer survivors is associated with lower survival. Individualized follow-up in which the patient’s mental health status is specifically monitored is recommended.