Spirituality May Boost Outcomes in Ovarian Ca
Published: Mar 10, 2013
By Cole Petrochko , Staff Writer, MedPage Today
LOS ANGELES — Ovarian cancer patients who reported high levels of spirituality presurgery had better outcomes for stress and depression, as well as factors known to regulate tumor angiogenesis and inflammation, researchers reported here.
Self-report of high spirituality was associated with significantly lower perceived stress and depression (P<0.001), according to Premal Thaker, MD of the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, and colleagues.
These same patients also had significantly lower levels of IL-6, both in peripheral blood (P=0.001) and in ascites (P=0.013) after adjusting for stress and depression, Thaker reported at the meeting of the Society of Gynecologic Oncology.
“Spirituality is an important psychosocial resource that positively influences quality of life,” Thaker noted, adding that “less is known about the role of positive stress buffers, such as spirituality and cytokines, in tumor angiogenesis and inflammation in ovarian cancer patients.”
She also noted that patient’s spirituality was defined as “an individual’s sense of peace, purpose, and connection to others, and beliefs about the meaning of life.” These beliefs and feelings are important for patients at the time of diagnosis and at the end of life by offering comfort, hope, improved quality of life, and meaning, she explained.
To analyze the effects of spirituality on preoperative patients with ovarian cancer, the researchers performed a prospective cohort study of 165 women with histologically confirmed epithelial ovarian cancer.
Patients were surveyed for stress, depression, and self-reported spirituality through the Perceived Stress Scale, Beck Depression Inventory, and FACT-Spirituality survey, respectively.
Participants also had blood drawn on the morning of surgery, which was used to obtain data on concentrations of patients’ IL-6, IL-8, and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF).
Thaker noted that earlier studies had linked depression with worse IL-6 outcomes and high social support with better IL-6 outcomes.
Participants were mostly white (96.1%), married or living with a partner (64%), normal or overweight (61%), and had an average age of 59.9. Disease in patients was mostly at stage III or 1V (72%), grade III (86.6%), had serous histology (75%), and had optimal debulking (76.8%).
A regression analysis showed a significantly negative association between spirituality and depression, stress, and IL-6, which maintained significance after adjustment for disease stage, histology, disease grade, age, and body mass index. Additional adjustment for stress and depression showed that the relationship between spirituality and IL-6 outcomes were unaffected (P=0.002).
There was no significant associations between spirituality and VEGF or IL-8 concentrations.
“These results indicate relationships between patient self-reports of spirituality presurgery and an important proinflammatory and proangiogenic cytokine, as well as important psychosocial correlates of spirituality,” the authors concluded, noting potential implications for future patient treatment.
Thaker noted the study was limited by self-reported measures and a single measure of spirituality.
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
Primary source: Society of Gynecologic Oncology
Source reference: Thaker PH, et al. “Spirituality, depression, and interleukin-6 in ovarian cancer patients” SGO 2013; Abstract 14.
Full Article: http://www.medpagetoday.com/MeetingCoverage/SGO/37780