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This review presents the State of the operationalized psychiatric disorder "PTSD" and the traumatic Stressor "cancer" in the empirical literature. The development of the diagnosis "PTSD" in cancer patients in the diagnostic nomenclature and results for assessment, prevalence, risk factors and comorbidity are discussed. The redefinition of the trauma criterion in DSM-IV make the application of PTSD to cancer patients possible. The prevalence of PTSD in cancer patients corresponds with the life-time-prevalence of PTSD in epidemiological studies. Methodical problems with regard to timing of assessment, reliable and valid instruments for the trauma experience "cancer" and defining the traumatic Stressor, make it difficult to determine prevalence. Data to risk-factors and comorbidity are incomplete. Prospective, longitudinal studies are needed to define the characteristics and course of PTSD in cancer setting. With this data it would be possible to identify the population at risk and the best time for assessment and therapeutic intervention.