Decades After Cancer, Suicide Risk Remains High

Extract

After seemingly successful treatment, the price of surviving cancer for some people is so high that the risk of attempting suicide, succeeding at it, or having suicidal thoughts remains elevated for decades, according to two new studies.

This research demonstrates that mental health counseling, along with physical care, is a must for some, if not all, long-term survivors, say the authors. And this finding is true for both childhood and adult survivors.

“We are only just beginning to acknowledge that we have this huge population of people who are long-term survivors and whose treatment and illness may have had consequences on their current functioning,” said Julia H. Rowland , Ph.D., director of the office of cancer survivorship at the National Cancer Institute.

One study, published August 20 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology , indicated that 12% of 266 adult survivors of childhood cancer reported thoughts of suicide or suicide attempts some 20-plus years after treatment.