8511 Background: The impact of emotional distress on cancer-related mortality is unclear. Divergent results in studies are due, in part, from heterogeneous populations in terms of type of cancer, stage of disease, and time of emotional assessment. This study examined the effect of depression and anxiety on a well-defined cohort of patients with newly diagnosed advanced NSCLC. Methods: 46 patients with advanced NSCLC were recruited within eight weeks of diagnosis to participate in a feasibility study of early palliative care. Participants completed the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) at baseline and were followed for six months. The primary study endpoint was survival at six months. The effects of depression and anxiety were evaluated first by Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and then by Cox regression to control for other variables. Results: Three patients (6%) had stage IIIB with effusions and the remaining 43 (93%) had stage IV disease. The median age of patients was 65.5 years and 28 of the 46 (61%) were women. 34 patients had a PS 1 (74%), 11 (24%) had PS 0 and one (2%) had PS 2. 96% of the patients completed the baseline HADS. 23% met HADS criteria for probable cases of depression (8 or greater) at baseline and 34% met HADS criteria for probable cases of anxiety (8 or greater). Using Kaplan-Meier survival analysis, patients with depression were less likely to have survived at 6 months than non-depressed patients (50% versus 80%, log rank p=0.01). Baseline anxiety did not appear to impact survival. Using Cox proportional hazard regression analyses to control for stage, ECOG performance status, age, and gender, the effect of depression remained significant at p=0.03. Conclusion: Depression in newly diagnosed advanced NSCLC patients was associated with inferior survival in this well-defined patient population. Conversely, anxiety did not appear to be associated with mortality. These findings strengthen the argument that emotional distress influences survival. Larger prospective studies are needed to confirm this conclusion, explore possible mediators, and investigate the effects of treatment for depression. No significant financial relationships to disclose.