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George F. Solomon, MD
University of California Los Angeles

JAMA. 1990;263(4):513-514.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

To the Editor.—

The worthwhile prospective study by Zonderman et al,¹ which found that self-reports of depression do not predict cancer in a 10-year follow-up, does not definitively refute my quoted statement that emotional factors can play a role in the onset and course of cancer. Two possible combinations of state/trait psychological characteristics could account for the (likely valid in terms of methodology utilized) findings. I have postulated the existence of an "immunosuppression-prone" personality pattern that is akin to the type C or cancer-prone pattern and to the concept of alexithymia.² All these constructs include difficulty being aware of and communicating one's feelings. Lack of emotional expressiveness has been linked to psychosomatic processes by a number of investigators.³

The first explanation for lack of correlation between apparently chronic depression and cancer might be that only in immunosuppresion-prone people, those with particular personality and coping style patterns, does . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

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