Suicidal events in cancer patients and the importance of an early prevention: a narrative review

Suicide is now considered a public health problem as millions of people die this way every year. Although there are numerous conditions that can lead to the occurrence of this event, it has been possible to observe that it occurs more frequently in particular categories of individuals, such as cancer patients. Studies conducted on this type of population over long periods have also made it possible to evaluate a variation in the incidence of suicidal events in relation to the type of tumor, probably due to the perception of a different severity of the pathology or to the idea of an inevitable worsening of the quality of life. This is why the incidence of suicide is higher in the case of prostate, lung, and colorectal cancer, being less common in other types. In recent years, the improvement of both curative and palliative therapies and therefore of life expectancy have led to a change in the incidence rate of these events, in support of what was said previou- sly. Today, suicide is considered a public health problem: since it is known that the population suffering from cancer is at greater risk, it is necessary to improve prevention, trying to intercept the most fragile subjects early and thus avoid the occurrence of these events.