Patients with invasive cancers are at an increased risk of suicide, study finds

A new study suggests that people with cancer are far more likely to die by suicide than their peers without cancer. Researchers at Penn State looked at decades of data on more than 8 million U.S. patients with invasive cancers. They found that certain groups were at a particularly high risk, including patients diagnosed at a younger age and patients with lung, head, and neck cancers. The study also found that for most cancers, the risk of suicide falls five years after a diagnosis. The researchers say their findings could be used to help develop screening guidelines, prevention strategies, and better support tools for patients with cancer.