Up until several years ago, little systematic effort was directed at developing an empirically based understanding of issues pertinent to psychosocial aspects of living with cancer. Recently, however, increased interest has been focused on this topic. This manuscript reviews over 100 articles, papers, and books written between 1960 and 1980 on the psychosocial impact of cancer on the adult patient and on methods of psychosocial treatment providing a “state of the art” appraisal of the area. A methodological critique of the research studies is provided as well.
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