Many people wonder whether a cancer patient's attitude or personality type can impact their prognosis. In this SlideShare, Dana Nolan, a Mental Health Counselor, takes a closer look at how personality, attitude and cancer relate for our August 2016 support group session.

1. Welcome!
Today’s Host:
Dana Nolan, MS LMHC
Licensed Mental Health Counselor
Feel free to ask questions and share your story.

2. Personality, Attitude and Cancer
Dana Nolan, MS LMHC
Licensed Mental Health Counselor

3. Why Did Researchers Study Personality and
Attitude in Cancer Patients?
 In the 1970s, doctors diagnosed most cancers in the
advanced stages. Treatment options were limited.
Prognoses were poor.
 Psychologists wanted to study if psychosocial factors
(personality, anxiety, depression, stress and attitude)
could predict cancer and if psychosocial interventions
could increase cancer survival.
 Studies linking personality, attitude and cancer have
not solely focused on mesothelioma, but they have
included all cancer diagnoses.
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4. Does a Type C or Cancer-Prone Personality
Exist?
 In the 1970s, medical psychologists hypothesized Type C
traits (tendency to suppress negative emotions, passivity
and high anxiety) increased the risk of developing cancer.
 They followed 1950s research, established by
cardiologists Meyer Friedman and Ray Rosenman, that
suggested Type A (high stress, competitive, aggressive)
personalities were at higher risk of heart disease than
those with Type B traits (more calm, less competitive or
aggressive).
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5. Personality and Cancer Research
 For the last several decades, academic and clinical
researchers have been investigating the
relationship between personality traits and risk of
getting cancer and cancer survival.
 The majority of the studies showed no link
between personality and cancer.
 The few studies that did suggest a link enrolled
few people and lacked sufficient case control.
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6. Research Results
 The latest, most significant study in 2010 followed
60,000 people over 30 years. Researchers
measured personality traits, cancer risk factors
(smoking, exercise, exposure to known
carcinogens) and whether they developed and
survived cancer.
 The study showed no link between personality and
cancer risk or survival.
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7. More Research Results
 Japanese study investigated four personality
factors in about 30,000 people over eight years.
Conclusion: “Our data do not support the
hypothesis that personality is a risk factor for
cancer incidence.”
 Swedish and Danish researchers studied 29,000
twins over a 30-year period to investigate the
relationship between personality traits and risk of
cancer. No correlation found.
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8. Attitude and Cancer
 Many cancer patients believe or have been told
they need to have a positive attitude, avoid
becoming overwhelmed with stress or both to
survive their cancer.
 Beginning in the 1980s, there were plenty of
studies on the relationship between having an
optimistic or positive attitude and length of cancer
survival.
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9. Why Research Attitudes of Cancer Patients?
 Anecdotal stories circulating within cancer support
groups and cancer clinics indicated people with a
positive attitude lived longer and those with a
pessimistic attitude.
 As a result, some patients reported feeling
pressure to maintain a positive attitude at all costs,
or they would not survive their disease.
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10. Why Research Attitudes of Cancer Patients?
(cont.)
 Psychologists used that information to help
pessimistic and overstressed patients through
psychological interventions.
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11. Importance of Longitudinal Research
 Studying cancer patients’ attitudes and stress
levels over a period of years (sometimes decades)
let researchers determine if patients simply felt
more hopeful and less stressed when their illness
responded favorably to treatment.
 It is understandable that patients would feel less
hopeful and stressed when their cancer was not
responding to treatment or getting worse.
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12. Research Results
 Again, a few small studies showed cancer patients
with a positive attitude or those who attended a
support group lived longer than those who didn’t
follow that pattern.
 However, the majority of well-designed, larger
studies that followed patients for an extended
period of time indicated a patient’s optimistic
attitude throughout their cancer journey did not
extend their life, but it did improve their quality of
life.
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13. Patient-Focused Resources on Research
 Great websites that highlight the research and
explain research results in layman’s terms:
National Cancer Institute
American Psychological Association
American Cancer Society
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14. Quality of Life Improvements
 While the consensus in the field of psycho-oncology
research is that having a positive attitude does not
extend one’s life, there are still many
demonstrated benefits of trying to remain
realistically optimistic and manage stress in a
healthy way.
 Quality-of-life research has demonstrated that
trying to remain hopeful and engaging in healthy
coping strategies improved a cancer patient’s
quality of life.
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15. What Is Quality of Life?
 Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) refers to
one’s overall well-being and the ability to do the
things they want to do. Factors that affect HRQOL:
Pain level
Fatigue level
Ability to engage in activities such as socializing, working
or hobbies
Ability to enjoy food and drinks
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16. Making Sense of Attitude and Mesothelioma
 It is not possible to be positive all the time when you
have mesothelioma. Pressure to adopt an aggressive,
positive spirit actually leads to more distress in
cancer patients.
 Psycho-oncology experts emphasize the importance
of acknowledging all the emotions that accompany a
cancer experience such as hopefulness, fears, stress,
losses and joy of positive news. Many cancer patients
have felt guilty they haven’t been positive enough if
their cancer treatment doesn’t work.
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17. Finding Your Own ‘Cancer Attitude’
“We want to recognize that there are lots of
individual differences in coping with cancer.
People have to do what is comfortable with
them, but they have to do without the
burden of thinking they’ve got to have the
right attitude to survive.”
- James Coyne, Ph.D., well-known psycologist and former
director of behavioral oncology at the University of
Pennsylvania Health System
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18. Sources and References to Journal Articles on
Attitude and Cancer
Bennett, K.K., Compas, B.E., Beckjord, E. et al. (2005) Self-blame and distress among
women with newly diagnosed breast cancer. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 28, 313-
323.
Chow, E. Tsao, M.N., Harth, T., (2004) Does psychosocial intervention improve survival in
cancer? A meta analysis. Palliative Medicine, 18, 25-31.
Coyne, J.C., Pajak T.F., Harris, J. et al. (2007) Emotional well-being does not predict survival
in head and neck cancer patients: A radiation therapy oncology study group. Cancer, 10,
2568-2575.
Hansen, P.E. et al. (2005) Personality traits, health behavior and risk for cancer. Published
online January 13, 2005 on www.intersciencewiley.com
Keeling, M., BambroughJ., Simpson, J., (2013) Depression, anxiety and positive affect in
people diagnosed with low-grade tumors: the roll of illness perceptions. Psycho-
oncology, 22(6), 1421-1427.
Nakaya, N. et al. (2010) Personality traits and cancer risk and survival based on Finnish and
Swedish registry data. American Journal of Epidemiology, 172(4), 377-85.
Nakaya, N. et al. (2002) Personality and the risk of cancer. Journal of the National Cancer
Institute, 95(11), 799-805.
Spiegel, D., Bloom, J.R., Kraemer, H.C. et al. (1989) Effect of psychosocial treatment on
survival of patients with metastatic breast cancer. Lancet, 2, 888-891.
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19. Contact Information
1-877-626-5916
(877) 626-5916
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@TheMesoCenter