Marriage, cancer survival linked in patients: Study

Researchers in the University of Maryland's Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Cancer Center in Baltimore found that married patients with lung cancer were likely to survive longer after treatment than those ones who were single.

The team observed 168 patients with Stage III non-small cell lung cancer, as the most common type of lung cancer, who were treated with chemotherapy and radiation over a 10-year period.

While the study indicated the existence of a correlation between patients' survival rates and their relationship, it also uncovered there were some variations by gender and race.

According to the study, 33% of married patients were still alive after three years compared to 10% of the single patients, with women faring better than men. Married women had the best three-year survival rate (46%) against 3% in single men.
 

The findings suggest the importance of social support in managing and treating our lung cancer patients as better supportive care and mechanisms for cancer patients can have a greater impact on increasing survival than many new cancer therapy techniques, Dr. Nichols said.

"It will also be important to establish what the individual factors are related to marital statuses that contribute towards any improvement in survival.”