ArticleCancer epidemiology, biomarkers & prevention : a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research, cosponsored by the American Society of Preventive Oncology2026
Association between Depression and Risk of Colorectal Cancer and Polyps: A Prospective Cohort Study from the Nurses' Health Study II.
Article in Cancer epidemiology, biomarkers & prevention : a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research, cosponsored by the American Society of Preventive Oncology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundDepression is a leading global health burden and has been linked to chronic diseases, including cancer. Chronic stress may promote colorectal carcinogenesis via hormonal, immune, and metabolic abnormalities. Evidence for the association between depression and colorectal cancer is inconsistent, and data on colorectal polyps are limited.
methodsWe prospectively followed 91,383 women from the Nurses' Health Study II (1993-2019) for colorectal cancer analyses, and 62,237 women (1993-2017) for adenoma and serrated polyp analyses. Depression was defined as a Mental Health Index-5 score ≤52, antidepressant use, or physician-diagnosed depression. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards models estimated hazard ratios (HR) for colorectal cancer, whereas logistic regression estimated odds ratios (OR) for adenomas and serrated polyps.
resultsOver 2.36 million person-years of follow-up, 474 colorectal cancer cases were documented. Depression was modestly associated with lower risk of colorectal cancer [HR = 0.76; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.59-0.97] and colon cancer but not rectal cancer. Among 62,237 women undergoing lower endoscopy over 24 years, 4,104 conventional adenomas and 4,563 serrated polyps were documented. Depression was modestly inversely associated with overall and large conventional adenomas (OR = 0.76; 95% CI, 0.63-0.92). No consistent association was observed with serrated polyps in primary models, although some sensitivity analyses suggested possible positive associations.
conclusionsDepression was inversely associated with colorectal cancer and large conventional adenomas. Associations with serrated polyps were not evident in primary models but varied across sensitivity analyses, requiring further study. IMPACT: These findings suggest potential differences across colorectal neoplastic pathways, indicating that the relationship between depression and colorectal carcinogenesis may be more complex than previously appreciated.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.