Patients Diagnosed With Cancer During a Separation Experience Poorer Survival

Individuals who receive a cancer diagnosis during a separation don’t live as long as patients who are widowed, divorced or never married at the time, according to a study scheduled for the Nov. 1, 2009, print issue of Cancer.

The results “suggest that the stress associated with marital separation may compromise an individual's immune system and lead to a greater susceptibility to cancer,” according to a press release from the University of Indiana School of Medicine.

Gwen Sprehn et al assessed the five and 10 year survival rates of 3.79 million patients diagnosed with cancer between 1973 and 2004 looking for trends in cancer survival based on marital status. They found that married patients had the greatest survival rates at 63.3 percent for five years and 57.5 for 10 years.

Separation carried the poorest survival rates at 45.4 percent for five years and 36.8 percent for 10, with widowed patients next at 47.2 percent and 40.9 percent. Divorced cancer survivors experienced survival rates of 52.4 percent and 45.6 percent at five and 10 years, with never married patients second highest at 57.3 percent and 51.7 percent.

The authors hypothesize that the stress in separating may compromise the immune system, which creates a greater vulnerability to cancer.

“Patients who are going through separation at the time of diagnosis may be particularly vulnerable population for whom intervention could be prioritized,” said Sprehn in the UI press release. “Identification of relationship-related stress at the time of diagnosis could lead to early interventions that might favorably impact survival.”

The article “Decreased Cancer Survival in Individuals Separated at Time of Diagnosis: Critical Period for Cancer Pathophysiology?” was written by Sprehn, Joanna E. Chambers, Andrew J. Saykin, Andre Konski and Peter A.S. Johnstone. It was published online in Cancer on Aug. 24, 2009.