Role of sex on psychological distress, quality of life, and coping of patients with advanced colorectal and non-colorectal cancer

BACKGROUND Patients with advanced gastrointestinal cancer must cope with the negative effects of cancer and complications. AIM To evaluate psychological distress, quality of life, and coping strategies in patients with advanced colorectal cancer compared to non-colorectal cancer based on sex. METHODS A prospective, transversal, multicenter study was conducted in 203 patients; 101 (50%) had a colorectal and 102 (50%) had digestive, non-colorectal advanced cancer. Participants completed questionnaires evaluating psychological distress (Brief Symptom Inventory-18), quality of life (EORTC QLQ-C30), and coping strategies (Mini-Mental Adjustment to Cancer) before starting systemic cancer treatment. RESULTS The study included 42.4% women. Women exhibited more depressive symptoms, anxiety, functional limitations, and anxious preoccupation than men. Patients with non-colorectal digestive cancer and women showed more somatization and physical symptoms than subjects with colorectal cancer and men. Men with colorectal cancer reported the best health status. CONCLUSION The degree of disease acceptance in gastrointestinal malignancies may depend on sex and location of the primary digestive neoplasm. Future interventions should specifically address sex and tumor site differences in individuals with advanced digestive cancer.