At ESMO Asia 2016 Congress in Singapore, Zhengzhou University researchers reported that depression reduces the level of a protein called brain-derived neurotophic factor (BDNF), making cancer patients less responsive to chemotherapy. The study, led by Yufeng Wu from Zhengzhou University, China, may improve the treatment of depressed cancer patients. There is a phenomenon that cancer patients who have good social support and emotional state tend to have a better chance of survival. To elucidate how depression influences the prognosis of advanced lung cancer, Wu's team investigated 186 cancer patients who were on chemotherapy. The researchers evaluated the patients' depression levels, explored their life qualities and recorded the overall survival rate. They found that patients with metastatic cancer were the most depressed of the group, and these patients were more likely to suffer nausea, vomiting, leukopenia, long time hospitalization and other side effects correlated with chemotherapy. Wu's team also found that the brain-boosting protein BDNF increased the number of cancer cells killed by chemotherapy, and that BDNF was reduced in the bloodstream of the depressed patients. These results suggest that BDNF could be a potential drug target. BDNF is important for brain function and reduced BDNF level is associated with mental health problems. The study confirms that emotions affect health. For cancer patients, there is no exception. Positive emotions can improve our health while negative emotions may damage our health. The researchers think that antidepressant drugs such as fluoxetine may enhance the effect of chemotherapy. But more research is needed to test the hypothesis. CusAb provides BDNF and HRP conjugated antibody.
