Trends in cancer-related suicide in the United States: a population-based cohort study spanning 40 years of data

Abstract There is a lack of large cohort studies examining trends in cancer-related suicide. This study addresses this gap by analyzing data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database, encompassing a total of 4,870,410 patients diagnosed with cancer from 1975 to 2017. Age-adjusted suicide rates were examined using joinpoint regression to estimate the annual percent change (APC) and average annual percentage change (AAPC). In the past 40 years, studies have revealed a gradual increase in cancer-related suicide rates from 1975 to 1989, followed by a gradual decrease from 1989 to 2013, and a marked decrease from 2013 to 2017. These trends indicate the potential impact of advancements in psychosocial care for patients with cancer in contributing to the observed decrease in suicide rates.