Letter to the Editor
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2024. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Psychiatry. Jul 19, 2024; 14(7): 1140-1142
Published online Jul 19, 2024. doi: 10.5498/wjp.v14.i7.1140
Beyond surgery: Overcoming postoperative depression in cancer patients
Shao-Ming Song, Xiao Wang, Hong-Mei Yue, Rong Liu
Shao-Ming Song, Xiao Wang, Hong-Mei Yue, Rong Liu, The First School of Clinical Medicine, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, Gansu Province, China
Rong Liu, Faculty of Hepato-pancreato-biliary Surgery, The First Medical Center of PLA General Hospital, Beijing 100853, China
Author contributions: Song SM, Yue HM, and Liu R designed the study; Wang X searched the literature; Song SM and Liu R wrote the manuscript and approved the final manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflict of interests.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Rong Liu, MD, PhD, The First School of Clinical Medicine, Lanzhou University, No. 199 West Donggang Road, Lanzhou 730000, Gansu Province, China. liurong301@126.com
Received: March 21, 2024
Revised: May 5, 2024
Accepted: June 5, 2024
Published online: July 19, 2024
Processing time: 112 Days and 15.9 Hours
Abstract

Depression is a common occurrence among cancer patients, and it significantly impacts their clinical outcomes and quality of life, with a high incidence during anti-tumor treatment or after surgery. The association between surgery and depression is the result of the interaction of various factors, including physiological, psychological, and social factors, all of which are intertwined and make patients susceptible to depression after surgical treatment. Postoperative depression has a significant negative impact on many aspects of cancer patients, and it requires timely identification and intervention to improve the overall outcome.

Keywords: Depression; Surgery; Tumor; Anti-tumor therapy

Core Tip: Postoperative depression has a series of negative effects on the recovery, quality of life, and subsequent anti-tumor therapy in cancer patients. We should evaluate patients who experience depression or have a tendency toward depression following surgery in a timely manner. Surgeons should use a combination of approaches to comprehensively assess the patient's psychiatric status and take appropriate measures to help them deal with depression, leading to improved clinical outcomes.