PERSONALITY DISORDERS: THE MISSING DIAGNOSIS IN PSYCHO-ONCOLOGY?

Personality can be defined as those characteristics of an individual that account for consistent patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving. The first studies on personality in psycho-oncology focused on the role of personality traits with respect to cancer incidence and survival; in light of virtually no empirical evidence on a personality-cancer causal association, a more consistent line of research later investigated the relationship between personality and adjustment to disease and treatment. Specifically, there is evidence that certain personality traits, such as neuroticism and negative affectivity, predict poorer levels of quality of life in cancer patients, whereas extraversion and optimism dimensions are associated with better outcomes. Research has been far more limited on the topic of personality disorders in the oncological setting, despite the notable implications that personality disorder patients pose in the interaction with healthcare staff, which can in turn result in suboptimal care. Nonetheless, cooperation with mental health professionals is essential in order to manage complications that may arise in the treatment of these patients, thus promoting the implementation of appropriate treatment plans.