Patients with psychiatric disorders are diagnosed with esophageal cancer much later and at a more advanced stage than patients with no psychiatric diagnosis, according to a study conducted by researchers in the Oregon Health & Science University Digestive Health Center.
The finding is significant, according to the study's principal investigator, Blair Jobe, M.D., because life and death for cancer patients is all about early detection and intervention.
This study was prompted by observations made in Jobe's clinical practice. He and colleagues wished to determine whether psychiatric illness represented an independent risk factor for delay in diagnosis and advanced disease at the time the patient first displayed symptoms.
"Research has shown that initial diagnosis and management of a disease process is more difficult in patients with a psychiatric disorder," explained Jobe, an assistant professor of surgery in the OHSU School of Medicine, Portland Veterans Affairs Medical Center (PVAMC). "Although a delay in diagnosis of esophageal cancer did not appear to result in a reduction of overall survival -- a reflection of the lethality of esophageal cancer -- the relationship between psychiatric disorders and esophageal cancer is very important to heed, especially as we improve in our ability to make the diagnosis in the early, more curable stages."