​Patients with Prostate, Other Urological Cancers Are 5 Times More Likely to Commit Suicide, UK Study Shows

This article is so sad.   Exactly the reason we chose to do Proton Therapy..  The quality of life for a man is not good if they choose to do radiation or surgery.   A way to minimize symptoms is to have Space Oars inserted before normal radiaion if proton therapy is not an option for you.  This will help protect your vital organs from the damages of the radiation.  Our doctor who wanted to do radiation never even mentioned this, so you will need to ask.  

March 19, 2018 

The issue of suicide risk among prostate cancer patients is back on the table again as a consequence of a presentation at the ongoing annual meeting of the European Association of Urology in Copenhagen, Denmark.

We had previously commented on prostate cancer and suicide back in 2009 and also in early 2010.

MedPage Today reports on a presentation by Dr. Mehran Afshar, of St. George’s Hospital, London, in which the research team showed that, compared to the general population in England who did not have any form of cancer:

Patients with non-urologic cancers were three times as likely to commit suicide.

Patients with urologic cancers of any type were four to five times as likely to commit suicide.

Patients with bladder or prostate cancers were about five times as likely to commit suicide.

Based on data from the Office of National Statistics in England, among 328,372 patients with urologic malignancies newly diagnosed cancer between April 2001 and January 2011, there were
1,222 suicide attempts, 162 completed suicides.  Now we do need to make sure that we see these numbers in context. They mean that roughly 0.05 percent of men in the UK diagnosed with a urologic malignancy actually commit suicide. However, they also mean that nearly 0.4 percent try to.

Most patients will have a clear understanding of the distress and anxieties that a disorder like prostate cancer can induce. Many of us can learn to deal with that distress and anxiety — but for others it can become extremely difficult or nearly impossible.

Afshar et al. also reported that:

The average (median) time from diagnosis to suicide for patients with prostate cancer was  846 days (about 28 months).
Key factors related to prostate cancer and risk for suicide may also be the nature of the patient’s diagnosis; a prior history of mental instability, depression, etc.; and whether the patient lives on his own — although the data presented by Afshar et al. do not (apparently) get into these details. 

https://prostatecancerinfolink.net/2018/03/19/prostate-cancer-and-risk-for-suicide/