I recently read a message about cancer-prone personality and deleted it. This afternoon I came across the following from Leventhal and Patrick-Miller (p. 530; 2000): "...Early investigators of the relationship between psychological factors and neoplastic disease describe the cancer-prone Type C personality... and the association of its 'helplessness' and 'passive acceptance' with poorer prognosis in patients with breast cancer or malignant melanoma... Animal models prognosis in patients with breast cancer or malignant melanoma... Animal models provide the most convincing support for such a causal link...Likewise, mice selectively bred for socially inhibited behavior exhibit chronically low natural killer cell activity, which has been associated with decreased defense against tumor initiation and metastasis... Although there appears to be a parallel between the behavior patterns of these uncontrollably stressed and socially inhibited animals and those of the Type C personality, the causal linkages among these factors reamin unproven... The data are, however, consistent with an indicator function of emotion." I have left out most of the references, but they are there in the chapter. Leventhal, H. & Patrick-Miller, L. (2000). Emotions and physical illness: Causes and indicators of vulnerability. In M. Lewis & J. M. Haviland-Jones, (Eds.), _Handbook of emotions_ (2nd edition). New York: Guilford. Stephen Truhon Dept. of Social Sciences Winston-Salem State University Winston-Salem, NC 27110
