Suicide risk among adolescents and young adults after cancer diagnosis: analysis of 34 cancer groups from 2009 to 2019.

PURPOSE

We aimed to identify granular groups with an increased risk of suicide among adolescents and young adult (AYA) patients with a previous malignant neoplasm diagnosis.

METHODS

We deployed a cohort of all cases of primary malignant neoplasms diagnosed between the 1st of January 2009 and the 31st of December 2019 among individuals aged 15-39 years registered in the Polish National Cancer Registry. To assess the risk of suicide in comparison with the general AYA population, we calculated sex-age-year standardized mortality ratios (SMR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI).

RESULTS

A total of 50,298 cancer patients (22,111 men and 28,187 women) were included in this study. The risk of suicide for AYA after cancer diagnosis was 2.39-fold higher than that for AYA in the general population (SMR 2.39, 95% CI 1.69 to 3.28). The risk in women (SMR 4.18, 95% CI 1.68 to 8.62) was higher than that in men (SMR 2.18, 95% CI 1.48 to 3.09). A significantly higher risk of suicide was observed in men with testicular cancer (SMR 2.46, 95% CI 1.37 to 4.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Polish AYA diagnosed with cancer had an almost 2.5-fold higher risk of suicide than the general AYA population. The particular risk group was men with testicular cancer within 2-3 and 5-10 years after cancer diagnosis.

IMPLICATIONS FOR CANCER SURVIVORS

To better identify patients at risk of suicide, there is a need to create or adapt screening tools, educate cancer care providers and family physicians, and integrate psychological services into select cancer care specialties.