All too often, Annika went on to explain, “Cancer patients’ emotional needs get ignored by the treating medical professionals. While there is definitely some truth to the assumption that curing a cancer will cure the depression triggered by cancer, the opposite also can be true. What has medical research found about the impacts of depression on the effectiveness of cancer treatment? A landmark 2010 study by Pinquart & Duberstein reviewed 76 prior studies investigating whether depression hindered cancer treatment. The good newsWhere, then, can cancer patients and their families find emotional support and treatment?