Key points are not available for this paper at this time.
Summary A comparison has been made of the personality characteristics of cancer patients with rapidly advancing disease and similar cases in which the period of survival was far longer than the average expectancy. The psychological differences between patients in these two extreme clinical groups were of such magnitude that in a significantly high percentage of cases they were readily detectable from the results of a single, relatively simple, objective test, the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory. The data obtained suggest that long-standing, intense emotional stress may exert a profoundly stimulating effect on the growth rate of an established cancer in man. The major differentiating features of the psychological data are defined, and the possible significance of the findings in relation to host resistance is discussed.
BLUMBERG et al. (Thu,) studied this question.