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(07/31/2025) VA Rocky Mountain Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center for Suicide Prevention researchers discovered Veteran cancer survivors have a suicide rate 37% higher than those who never had cancer. In nearly 440,000 Veterans diagnosed with cancer between 2010 and 2020, the risk of suicide was highest in the first year after diagnosis or recurrence and remained high for five years before falling to rates similar to those in Veterans without cancer. Veteran cancer survivors older than 85 died by suicide at a rate almost eight times that of other Veterans, and those from 70 to 84 were nearly five times more likely to die by suicide. Cancers with the highest suicide rates were esophageal, pancreatic, male reproductive, head and neck, and respiratory cancers. Also, the higher a Veteran’s cancer stage, the higher the rate of suicide. The findings suggest the need for screening newly diagnosed cancer patients for suicide risk and providing appropriate services. (Journal of Affective Disorders, Jul. 5, 2025)