Women with early-stage breast cancer have a slightly higher risk of dying from their cancer if they suffer from depression after their cancer diagnosis, according to new research published in the journal Psychosomatics.

However, late-stage breast cancer patients have a higher risk of dying if they suffered from depression before their cancer diagnosis, say Karen Hjerl, M.D., Ph.D. of Rigshospitalet University Hospital in Copenhagen, Denmark and colleagues.

Hjerl and colleagues acknowledge that the relationship between time of depression and cancer stage is "difficult to explain," and suggest that a whole host of factors may contribute to the differences in risk, including potentially better psychiatric care for late-stage patients who spend more time under clinical care.