Depressed mood and development of cancer.

This study was undertaken to determine whether premorbid depressed mood is associated with the development of cancer. Scores on the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale were available for 2,264 participants in a mental health study conducted in 1971-1974 in Washington County, Maryland, who were still free of cancer 2-4 years later. Over a 12-year follow-up period (1975-1987), 169 cancers were diagnosed among these persons. While there was only a slight association of depressed mood with subsequent cancer among the total study population, the association was much stronger among cigarette smokers. Compared with the risk seen in never smokers without depressed mood, depressed mood at the highest level of smoking was associated with relative risks of 4.5 for total cancer, 2.9 for cancer at sites not associated with smoking, and 18.5 for cancer at sites associated with smoking.