Salivary cortisol reveals overt and hidden anxiety in survivors of childhood cancer attending clinic

Abstract

Background: Symptoms of anxiety may arise from fear of cancer recurrence and memories of traumatic experiences during treatment. This study aimed to identify changes in mental health and cortisol, a biological marker of stress, associated with oncology surveillance clinic attendance. Methods: Adolescent and young adult (AYA) survivors of childhood cancer (aged 12–30 years, N = 46) attending a survivorship clinic were recruited. The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, an anxiety self-rating and open answer question, and salivary cortisol collections were completed two weeks before and one day before clinic, on clinic day and two weeks after. Results: Trait anxiety scores were consistent with the normal population. State anxiety scores two weeks after clinic were significantly lower than baseline (p = 0.02). Cortisol diurnal slopes were flatter than baseline after clinic (p = 0.02). Evening cortisol levels were significantly higher than baseline two weeks post clinic (p = 0.02). Limitations: Combined results from biological and psychometric assessments can be difficult to interpret. Larger cohorts will further delineate cortisol pathway activity and distress in AYA cancer survivors. Conclusions: Psychometric evidence indicates that AYA survivors of childhood cancer perceive themselves to be less anxious after a survivorship clinic visit. Biological evidence, however, indicates a dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis which may be linked to clinic attendance. Weak correlations suggest that cortisol may not be a reliable indicator of self-perceived anxiety. This may be due to confounding lifestyle factors influencing the stress response or potential ‘coping strategies’ developed during past treatment experience which may, hypothetically, have masked self-perceived anxiety.