Social factors influence the course and prognosis of malignat diseases.

BACKGROUND: A statement of the dia-gnosis of malignant disease fundamentally changes the identity of a man. A healthy person changes to a patient. A lot of studies analyzed the influence of marital status on the disease development. PURPOSE: We present an analysis of interpersonal relationships in connection with oncological diseases. The majority of the authors consider living in a couple as a positive prognostic factor. On the other hand, malignant disease at a younger age increases the risk of divorce or breakup.

Psychical reaction of patients to the negative information on cancer diagnosis.

Strong negative message of the type „You have been diagnosed with cancer“ produces blustering reaction with specific phases in any individual. Elizabeth Kűbler-Ross was the first who described this reaction to cancer findings. However, her description hit the most distinctive marks only, while less noticeable signs did not occur in the original specification. The goal of this text is to familiarize a reader with complex spectrum of all possible patient reactions to the announcement of cancer as met in real life.