Chang WP, et al. – The study aimed to determine the relationship of cortisol and melatonin rhythms with sleep quality, anxiety, depression, and fatigue levels in patients with newly diagnosed lung cancer. Findings revealed that the patients with newly diagnosed lung cancer had poorer sleep quality, higher depression levels, lower salivary melatonin levels, higher cortisol levels, and flatter melatonin and cortisol slopes than did the controls. The fatigue level and cortisol slope significantly anticipated sleep quality. Therefore, the assessment of cortisol and melatonin rhythms and levels could provide crucial information that might be advantageous for managing symptoms in patients with newly diagnosed lung cancer.

Methods

• It was a case–control study.
• Participants were forty patients with newly diagnosed lung cancer and forty healthy adults.

Results

• The results of this study showed that the patient group had a lower salivary melatonin level and flatter slope (p < 0.001 and p < 0.001), higher salivary cortisol level and steeper slope (p < 0.001 and p < 0.001), higher sleep disturbance level (p = 0.004), and higher depression level (p < 0.001).
• The multivariate linear regression analysis revealed that the cortisol slope (p = 0.005) and fatigue score (p = 0.032) anticipated the sleep quality score (p = 0.011).