MONDAY, May 11, 2026 (NewsDay News) — Somatic symptoms may disproportionately increase levels of depression among ovarian cancer patients, according to a study published online May 11.Cancer.
Rachel Telles, from the University of Iowa in Iowa City, and colleagues studied the contribution of somatic symptoms to the assessment of depression severity in patients with ovarian cancer. The analysis included 428 patients with ovarian cancer who completed a psychological assessment within one to two weeks before surgery or starting neoadjuvant chemotherapy and at one-year follow-up.
The researchers found that the somatic items showed differential activity between the groups. Patients with ovarian cancer were more likely to endorse somatic symptoms at lower levels of depression than healthy adults. In addition, those with ovarian cancer required lower levels of depression to endorse somatic items than non-somatic items. At one year, these differences between cancer patients and healthy adults no longer existed.
“We intend to use these findings to guide the assessment of depressive symptoms to discriminate between physical symptoms related to cancer and cognitive or affective symptoms that may respond to traditional depression interventions,” Telles said. “We hope that more tailored care will improve outcomes for these patients.”
Several authors disclosed ties to the biopharmaceutical industry.
