AIM:To evaluate the effects of depression on parametersof cell-mediated immunity in patients with cancers of thedigestive tract.METHODS:One hundred and eight adult patients of bothsexes with cancers of the digestive tract admitted betweenMarch 2001 and February 2002 in the Department of MedicalOncology,First Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong Universitywere randomly enrolled in the study.The Zung self-ratingdepression scale (SDS),Zung self-rating anxiety scale(SAS),numeric rating scale (NRS) and social support ratingscale (SSRS) were employed to evaluate the degree ofdepression and their contributing factors.In terms of theirSDS index scores,the patients were categorized intodepression group (SDS≥50) and non-depression group(SDS<50).Immunological parameters such as T-lymphocytesubsets and natural killer (NK) cell activities in peripheralblood were determined and compared between the twogroups of patients.RESULTS:The SDS index was from 33.8 to 66.2 in the 108cases,50% of these patients had a SDS index more than50.Similarly,the SAS index of all the patients ranged from35.0 to 62.0 and 46.3% of the cases had a SAS index above50.Cubic curve estimation showed that the depression waspositively correlated with anxiety and negatively with socialsupport.Furthermore,the depression correlated with thetumor type,which manifested in a descending order asstomach,gallbladder,pancreas,intestine,esophagus,duodenum and rectum,according to their correlativity.Step-wise regression analysis suggested that hyposexuality,dispiritment,agitation,palpitation,low CD_(56) and anxiety werethe significant factors contributing to depression.More severeanxiety (49.7±7.5 vs 45.3±6.9,P<0.05),pain (6.5±2.8 vs4.6±3.2,P<0.05),poor social support (6.8±2.0 vs 7.6±2.1,P<0.05),as well as decline of lymphocyte count (0.33±0.09vs 0.39±0.87,P<0.05) and CD_(56) (0.26±0.11 vs 0.29±0.11,P<0.05) were noted in the depression group compared withthose of the non-clepression patients.However,fewer obviouschanges in CD_4/CD_8 ratio and other immunological parameterswere found between the two groups. CONCLUSION:Depression occurs with a high incidence inpatients with cancers of the digestive tract,which probablyis not the sole factor leading to the impairment of immunologicalfunctions in these cases.However,comprehensive measuresincluding psychological support should be taken in order toimprove the immunological function,quality of life and clinicalprognosis of these patients. AIM: To evaluate the effects of depression on parameters of cell-mediated immunity in patients with cancers of the digestive tract. METHODS: One hundred and eight adult patients of bothsexes with cancers of the digestive tract as between between March 2001 and February 2002 in the Department of Medical Oncology, First Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University regularly enrolled in the study. The Zung self-rating scale (SDS), Zung self-rating anxiety scale (SAS), numeric rating scale (NRS) and social support ratingscale (SSRS) were employed to evaluate the degree of expression and their contributing factors. terms of their SDS index scores, the patients were categorized intodepression group (SDS ≧ 50) and non-depression group (SDS <50). Immunological parameters such as T-lymphocytesubsets and natural killer NK) cell activities in peripheralblood were determined and compared between the twogroups of patients .RESULTS: The SDS index was from 33.8 to 66.2 in the 108cases, 50% of these pati ents had a SDS index more than 50. Similaly, the SAS index of all the patients ranged from 35.0 to 62.0 and 46.3% of the cases had a SAS index above50.Cubic curve estimation showed the depression waspositively correlated with anxiety and negatively with socialsupport .Furthermore, the depression correlated with the tumor type, which manifested in a descending order as stomach, gallbladder, pancreas, intestine, esophagus, duodenum and rectum, according to their correlativity. Spi-wise regression analysis suggested that hyposexuality, dispiritment, agitation, palpitation, low CD_ (56) and anxiety were the significant factors contributing to depression. More severe anxiety (49.7 ± 7.5 vs 45.3 ± 6.9, P <0.05), pain (6.5 ± 2.8 vs 4.6 ± 3.2, P < 6.8 ± 2.0 vs. 7.6 ± 2.1, P <0.05), as well as decline of lymphocyte count (0.33 ± 0.09 vs 0.39 ± 0.87, P <0.05) and CD 56 (0.26 ± 0.11 vs 0.29 ± 0.11, P <0.05 ) were noted in the depression group compared withthose of the non-clepression patients. Yet, fewer obvi ouschangesin CD_4 / CD_8 ratio and other immunological parameterswere found between the two groups. CONCLUSION: Depression occurs with a high incidence inpatients with cancers of the digestive tract, which probablyis not the sole factor leading to the impairment of immunologicalfunctions in these cases. However, comprehensive measuresincluding psychological support should be taken in order toimprove the immunological function, quality of life and clinicalprognosis of these patients.