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. 2023 Dec 22;16(1):75.
doi: 10.3390/cancers16010075.

Analysis of Anxiety, Depression and Fear of Progression at 12 Months Post-Cytoreductive Surgery in the SOCQER-2 (Surgery in Ovarian Cancer-Quality of Life Evaluation Research) Prospective, International, Multicentre Study

Aarti Lakhiani  1   2 , Carole Cummins  1 , Satyam Kumar  3 , Joanna Long  1 , Vivek Arora  4 , Janos Balega  2 , Tim Broadhead  5 , Timothy Duncan  6 , Richard Edmondson  7 , Christina Fotopoulou  8 , Rosalind Glasspool  9 , Desiree Kolomainen  10 , Ranjit Manchanda  11   12 , Orla McNally  13 , Jo Morrison  14 , Asima Mukhopadhyay  15 , Raj Naik  16 , Nick Wood  17 , Sudha Sundar  2   18
Affiliations

Analysis of Anxiety, Depression and Fear of Progression at 12 Months Post-Cytoreductive Surgery in the SOCQER-2 (Surgery in Ovarian Cancer-Quality of Life Evaluation Research) Prospective, International, Multicentre Study

Aarti Lakhiani et al. Cancers (Basel). .

Abstract

Patients with ovarian cancer (OC) often experience anxiety, depression and fear of progression (FOP); however, it is unclear whether surgical complexity has a role to play. We investigated the prevalence of anxiety, depression and FOP at 12 months post-cytoreductive surgery and investigated associations with surgical complexity, patient (age, ethnicity, performance status, BMI) and tumour (stage, disease load) factors. One hundred and forty-one patients with FIGO Stage III-IV OC, who did not have disease progression at 12 months post-surgery, completed the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and FOP short-form questionnaire. Patients underwent surgery with low (40.4%), intermediate (31.2%) and high (28.4%) surgical complexity scores. At 12 months post-surgery, 99 of 141 (70%) patients with advanced OC undergoing surgery experienced clinically significant anxiety, 21 of 141 (14.9%) patients experienced moderate to severe depression and 37 of 140 (26.4%) experienced dysfunctional FOP. No associations were identified between the three different surgical complexity groups with regards to anxiety, depression or FOP scores. Unsurprisingly, given the natural history of the disease, most patients with OC suffer from anxiety, depression and fear of progression after completion of first-line cancer treatment. Surgical complexity at the time of surgery is not associated with a deleterious impact on anxiety, depression or FOP for patients with OC. Patients with OC experience a profound mental health impact and should be offered mental health support throughout their cancer journey.

Keywords: anxiety; depression; fear of progression; ovarian cancer; quality of life.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. SS has received honoraria from Astra Zeneca, MSD, Immunogen and GSK and a research grant from AoA diagnostics. This is outside the submitted work. CF has received honoraria from Ethicon, Tesaro, MSD, Astra Zeneca, Clovis, Roche, and GSK. This is outside the submitted work. RM reports grants from Barts Charity, and The Eve Appeal and personal fees from Astra Zeneca and MSD. This is outside the submitted work. RE reports personal fees from Astra Zeneca, Clovis Pharma, and GSK, outside the submitted work. AM reports royalty from Newcastle University (Clovis Oncology) related to the work of development of rucaparib. This is unrelated to the submitted work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Patient flow diagram.
Figure 2
Figure 2
(a–c) Association between quality of life at 12 months and levels of anxiety, depression and FOP.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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