A THIRD of thyroid cancer survivors experience anxiety after treatment, with a team of Newcastle researchers finding a "disproportionate" fear of recurrence having a significant impact on their mental health.
Early data from a study run throughout Hunter New England shows that 33 per cent of thyroid cancer survivors experienced anxiety, and 18 per cent experienced depression after their treatment - despite it being known as a relatively "good" cancer with a "really good" prognosis.
The Hunter team's findings have been unveiled at the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons Annual Scientific Congress in Brisbane this week.
Conjoint Associate Professor Christine O'Neill, a Royal Australasian College of Surgeons Fellow and specialist general surgeon in Newcastle, said despite thyroid cancers having a good prognosis, the fear of cancer returning was common.
Rates of anxiety, depression and the fear of recurrence were similar in thyroid cancer to patients with other cancer types.
But because of it being perceived as a cancer with good outcomes, the mental health impacts on survivors may have been overlooked until now, Dr O'Neill said.
"There is so much fear associated with the word cancer, however, the rates of mortality for people with thyroid cancer are exceedingly low," she said. "The life expectancy is almost the same as if you didn't have thyroid cancer for the majority of people.
"They have excellent survival rates. But because it is seen as such as 'good cancer', the impact on mental health has been an unrecognised problem for patients, and they potentially have unmet psychological needs."
Dr O'Neill said the research would help them identify ways to better support thyroid cancer patients earlier. She said while thyroid patients did have surgery, "very few" had traditional chemotherapy or radiation.
"It's just not treated that way," she said. "These patients - particularly in Newcastle - don't get linked in with oncology services," she said. "So they struggle to access the same psychological supports that other cancer survivors do."
Dr O'Neill said it was important they were cared for holistically with access to a range of support services - such as mental health programs, so they could resume their life, their work, and their caring responsibilities with a good quality of life.
The research team, which has begun working within the Hunter Medical Research Institute's new Surgical and Perioperative Care Research Program, plans to finish this study before scaling it up with the goal of integrating it into clinical practice.
This study was conducted between June 2020 and December 2021 with Dr Ahmad Alam, Dr Jacob Hampton, Dr Christopher Rowe, Dr Elizabeth Fradgley, and Professor Christine Paul.
