Many lymphoma survivors have psychological scars

March 14, 2008

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Almost 40 percent of survivors of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma report some degree of emotional distress in the years after diagnosis, according to North Carolina-based researchers.

"While most lymphoma survivors don't experience symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)," lead investigator Dr. Sophia K. Smith told Reuters Health, "many do continue to be affected by their experience with cancer."

Smith of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and colleagues surveyed 886 lymphoma survivors. They ranged in age from 25 to 92 years, and their cancer diagnosis was made 2 to 44 years earlier, the team reports in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Most of the subjects (61 percent) did not report PTSD symptoms. The prevalence of PTSD was 7.9 percent and another 9.1 percent of the respondents met the diagnostic criteria for partial PTSD.

However, 39 percent of the subjects still felt the impact of lymphoma on their well-being. For some, "it's trouble breathing and sweating when they think about their cancer and treatment," continued Smith, "for others, it's sleep and concentration difficulties, or avoiding medical care."

The findings also suggest "that people who have strong social support networks are less likely to feel these ways," Smith noted. "This means that if social workers and others made special efforts to reach out to these people shortly after their diagnosis, some of the long-term effects might be avoided."