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Untangling the Complexities of Depression Diagnosis in Older Cancer Patients

^aDepartment of Psychiatry, Weill Cornell Medical College, White Plains, New York, USA; ^bDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York, USA

Key Words. Depression diagnosis • Cancer • Geriatrics

Correspondence: Correspondence: Christian J. Nelson, Ph.D., Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, 641 Lexington Avenue, 7th Floor, New York, New York 10022, USA. Telephone: 646-888-0030; Fax: 212-888-2356; e-mail: nelsonc{at}mskcc.org

Received July 8, 2008; accepted for publication December 14, 2008.

Disclosure: The content of this article has been reviewed by independent peer reviewers to ensure that it is balanced, objective, and free from commercial bias. No financial relationships relevant to the content of this article have been disclosed by the authors, planners, independent peer reviewers, or staff managers.

This review article discusses the complexities of diagnosing depression in older, geriatric cancer patients. There has been little research conducted with this population on the assessment, recognition, and treatment of depression, and thus increased attention is required to improve care for these individuals. Depressive symptoms often manifest themselves differently in both cancer patients and older patients, and therefore a modified and adapted way of assessment must be employed when thinking about diagnosing and treating these patients.

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