Vortioxetine for Cancer Patients With Depression: An Observational Study

Cancer is always a feared illness and the diagnosis of cancer has huge psychological impact on the patients. Depression is one of the most common psychiatric sequelae and affects the disease outcome in cancer patients. Along with depression, cancer patients are also vulnerable to develop cognitive impairment. It could be related to the cancer or its treatment. Cognitive impairment that occurs among cancer patient is known as cancer related cognitive impairment (CRCI). Depression together with cognitive impairment adversely affect the quality of life of cancer patients. To date, the optimal treatment of depression in cancer is not established. The number of studies investigated the efficacy of pharmacotherapy for depression in cancer patient is limited. The evidence of treatment for cognitive impairment in depressed cancer patients is even more scarce. Vortioxetine is one of the latest marketed antidepressants in Malaysia. It has numerous additional effects as compared to other conventional antidepressants. In addition to blockade of the serotonin transporter (SERT), vortioxetine has affinity for 5-HT1A, 5-HT1B, 5-HT3, and 5-HT7 receptors and as such, it is described as a 'multimodal serotonin modulator'. This may explain the additional benefit of vortioxetine in the treatment of depression as compared to other antidepressants. Furthermore, the unique mechanism of action of vortioxetine was also reported to improve cognitive function in patients with depression. General Objective: To examine the effect of vortioxetine in improving the depressive symptoms, cognitive impairment and quality of life in cancer patients who have major depressive disorder. Specific Objectives: 1. To determine whether treatment with antidepressant vortioxetine is effective to improve depressive symptoms in patients diagnosed with cancer (of any origin) and major depressive disorder. 2. To determine whether treatment with antidepressant vortioxetine is effective to improve cognitive impairment in patients diagnosed with cancer (of any origin) and major depressive disorder. 3. To determine whether treatment with antidepressant vortioxetine is effective to improve quality of life in patients diagnosed with cancer (of any origin) and major depressive disorder.