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Abstract: Previous population-based studies have identified increased suicide rates among cancer patients. Available post mortem data on the contribution of cancer to completed suicide are limited, however. This study examines forensic autopsy data in order to assess whether cancer is significantly more frequent in a suicide population compared with a control population. In total, 232 cases were included in both the suicide and the control groups. Based on a complete standard histological examination, cancer was significantly more often found in the suicide group than in the control one (8.6% vs. 3.9%, p =0.03). The multivariate analysis also showed that the presence of cancer increased the risk of suicide. Moreover, cancer was not known to the deceased in 70% of cases, while the most frequent mental disease found in cancer-related suicide cases was depression (75%). In the 20 cancer-related suicide cases analysed herein, it was difficult to ascertain whether malignancy was the only motive for committing suicide, as cancer could be considered to be either a major causative factor for suicide or an incidental finding. Therefore, further research is warranted with the help of the psychological autopsy method to investigate the link between suicide and cancer further. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Disturbances in some endocrine hormones have been implicated in the pathophysiology of depression and psychosis. We consider here further the hypothesis that there may be a correlation between suicide risk and the weight of the thyroid gland. The thyroid weight and other relevant information (sex, BMI) were collected retrospectively from 576 autopsies including 299 cases of completed suicide, analyzed in the west area of Paris between 1994 and 2010. Multiple regression model, adjusted on sex and BMI, confirmed that only for subjects more than 60years of age, deceased by suicide, had a significant decrease in their weight of thyroid compared to those who deceased for another cause (decrease of around 3g, p =0.03, for age class 60 and over). Our hypothesis is that there could exist an anatomical correlate (thyroid weight) among people who have committed suicide, especially old individuals. Various hypotheses regarding the hypothalamus–pituitary–thyroid axis dysfunction and the physiopathology of major depression are proposed and discussed. Further studies will be necessary in order to confirm that such a tendency exists on other populations. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]