NONORGANIC SOMATIC SYMPTOMS IN CANCER

Somatic symptoms considered as unrelated to cancer or grossly out of p roportion to the known pathology were systematically assessed in a gro up of 98 consecutively referred cases. Subjects with prominent somatic symptoms (somatisers) had depression (53%), anxiety (12%) and atypica l somatoform disorder (27%). During follow-up, somatisers with depress ion showed clinical improvement whereas those with atypical somatoform disorder showed no improvement or deteriorated. Methods of distinguis hing the cause of somatic symptoms in cancer patients are discussed.