There is a growing interest among clinicians regarding quality of life and psychological well-being of patients with bladder cancer. Recent evidence suggests that some patients might be at risk of suicide, and suffer from pre- and post-treatment depression and anxiety. In future, we should focus on attempting to identify patients who might be affected and might need specialized interventions. Furthermore, it is of utmost importance to investigate which type of interventions might be useful to help these patients achieve the goal of alleviating their cancer-related suffering. PATIENT SUMMARY: In this review, we looked at the data available regarding the rates of depression, anxiety, and suicide among the highest-risk oncology patients with bladder cancer. There is increased evidence that a high percentage of patients are at risk of suffering from psychological distress, with a proportion even committing suicide. Management of these patients should include a clear guideline on how to identify patients at risk and to combat possible psychological effects of this debilitating malignancy.
European urology focus. 2019 Dec 10 [Epub ahead of print]
Liliana Vartolomei, Mihai Dorin Vartolomei, Shahrokh F Shariat
Department of Clinical Psychology, University "Dimitrie Cantemir", Târgu Mures, Romania; I.O.S.U.D., University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Sciences and Technology "George Emil Palade", Târgu Mures, Romania; Department of Urology, Comprehensive Cancer Center, Vienna General Hospital, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria., Department of Urology, Comprehensive Cancer Center, Vienna General Hospital, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria; Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Sciences and Technology "George Emil Palade", Târgu Mures, Romania., Department of Urology, Comprehensive Cancer Center, Vienna General Hospital, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria; Department of Urology, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, USA; Department of Urology, Second Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic; Institute for Urology and Reproductive Health, I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, Moscow, Russia; Department of Urology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA. Electronic address: .