Psychiatry Medical News about cancer mortality;schizophrenia

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Cancer mortality in patients with schizophrenia
Cancer, 06/30/09

Tran E et al. - In a study to explore the relationship between cancer mortality and schizophrenia, the results of the current study demonstrated an increased risk of mortality by cancer in pts with schizophrenia, especially for women from breast cancer and for men from lung cancer.

Methods

In 1993, a large prospective study was initiated in a cohort of 3470 pts with schizophrenia to examine cancer-related mortality and predictors.
Standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) were calculated, adjusting for age and sex relative to a representative sample of the French general population.

Results

During the 11-yr follow-up, 476 (14%) pts died; the mortality rate was nearly 4-fold higher than in the general population.
Cancer was the second most frequent cause of mortality (n=74), with a global SMR of 1.5.
For all cancers, the SMRs were 1.4 (not significant) for men and 1.9 for women.
For men, lung cancer was the most frequent localization (n=23; 50%), with an SMR of 2.2.
For women, breast cancer was the most frequent localization (n=11; 39%), with an SMR of 2.8.
In comparison with pts who did not die of cancer, there were 2 significant baseline predictors of death by lung cancer in the final logistic regression model: duration of smoking and age >38 yrs.

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