No evidence of association between PTSD, cancer risk

the Oncology Nurse Advisor take:

According to a new study published in the European Journal of Epidemiology, researchers from Boston University School of Medicine in Boston, Massachusetts, have found that post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is not a risk factor for developing cancer.

For the study, researchers included all Danish-born residents of Denmark from 1995 to 2011. During that time, PTSD was diagnosed in 4,131 people.

Researchers included all malignant neoplasms, hematologic malignancies, immune-related cancers, smoking- and alcohol-related cancers, and cancers at all other sites as main outcomes. Results showed that there were no associations between PTSD and nearly all cancer diagnoses examined.

This study is the largest study to date evaluating PTSD as a predictor of various cancer types. The large sample size and long study duration allowed researchers to examine associations that had previously not been analyzed.