European Urology

Abstract

Background

The risk of suicide is increased among cancer patients including men with prostate cancer (PCa). However, whether this increased risk applies to men diagnosed subsequent to prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing is not known.

Objective

To assess the risk of suicide among men diagnosed with PCa subsequent to PSA testing.

Design, setting, and participants

The Prostate Cancer Base Sweden (PCBaSe Sweden) database, the Swedish Cause of Death Register, and the Swedish census database were used. The PCBaSe Sweden is a merged database that includes data from the Swedish National Prostate Cancer Register (NPCR) for cases diagnosed between January 1, 1997, and December 31, 2006. The number of suicides registered for cases in the PCBaSe cohort was compared with the expected number of suicides in an age-matched general male Swedish population.

Measurements

Standardised mortality ratios (SMRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated for different categories of cases.

Results and limitations

There were 128 suicides among the 77 439 PCa cases in the NPCR compared with an expected number of 85 (SMR: 1.5; 95% CI, 1.3–1.8). The risk of suicide was not increased for the 22 405 men with PSA-detected T1c tumours (SMR: 1.0; 95% CI, 0.6–1.5), whereas the 22 929 men with locally advanced nonmetastatic tumours (SMR: 2.2; 95% CI, 1.6–2.9) and the 8350 men with distant metastases (SMR: 2.1; 95% CI, 1.2–3.6) had statistically significant increased SMRs for suicide. Potential effects of comorbid medical and psychiatric conditions could not be investigated.

Conclusions

No increased risk of committing suicide was observed among men with PCa diagnosed subsequent to PSA testing, whereas the risk was twice as high among men with locally advanced or metastatic disease, compared with an age-matched male population.

Take Home Message

Men with prostate-specific antigen–detected prostate cancer do not have an increased risk of committing suicide compared with an age-matched background population, whereas the suicide risk is doubled for men with locally advanced or metastatic disease.