A Possible Relationship between Psychological Factors and Human Cancer

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Abstract
Extensive psychological testing was carried out on a number of human cancer patients in an attempt to determine what part, if any, stresses of emotional origin might play in the growth rate of the established disease. The experimental design consisted of setting up 2 contrasting groups of cases with unusually rapid, and unusually slow progression of their disease, in relation to the average for the particular neoplasm. These groups were then studied for differentiating personality factors. While many standard psychological tests were used, this report concerns only the data obtained with the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory since its simplicity and objectivity eliminate the factor of personal interpretation by the examiner, and the results may be accurately reproduced by others. By this method it was found that the 2 medical groups of cancer patients could be distinguished with a high degree of accuracy. Statistical analysis revealed that the correlation between certain readily measured psychological factors and neoplastic activity was significant beyond the 1% level. The possible implications of these findings in relation to host-resistance and host-acquiescence to malignant disease are discussed.

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