Posttraumatic stress symptomatology and cancer.

The extant nosological formulations of the American Psychiatric Association denotes that Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) maybe predicated upon some life threatening experience. Historically, combat, robbery, rape, and serious accidents have been included as traumatogenetic stressors. Only recently has life-threatening illness been considered as a traumatogenetic stressor. This paper reviews the relativity between cancer and posttraumatic stress.