Early Detection of Pancreatic Cancer

R eceiving a diagnosis of cancer is known to cause depression in the patient due to the challenges and uncertainty this diagnosis brings. Anecdotal reports of depression before a cancer diagnosis have prompted researchers to consider depression as a possible early signal that there is a disease process at work in the body. The depression-before-diagnosis relationship is particularly notable in pancreatic cancer, which has very few symptoms and frequently is a systemic disease at the time of detection. A review of the literature substantiates that depression and anxiety may be potential precursors to a pancreatic cancer diagnosis. Studies have started to look more closely at this link, with an eye to developing a testable marker for pancreatic cancer. It is important that medical and mental health professionals are aware of the pancreatic cancerdepression relationship, particularly sudden-onset depression and anxiety in people who have never experienced this condition before, so that the cancer can be identified and treated at an earlier stage. This editorial addresses the role of depression and anxiety as a precursor to cancer and encourages further research on both the biomarker and mental health aspect of pancreatic cancer.