In a report published in the March issue of the Journal of Thoracic Oncology (JTO) researchers concluded that lung cancer patients who are optimistic have a more favorable outcome than those with a pessimistic outlook. Building upon previous findings the researchers at the Mayo Clinic evaluated 534 adult lung cancer patients who had completed a Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) around 18 years before being diagnosed with lung cancer between 1997 and 2006 in a retrospective study. The MMPI determined whether the patient was optimistic or pessimistic. All patients (men and women) who were classified as optimistic survived an average of six-months longer than the pessimistic group.The five-year survival rate for the optimistic group was 32.9% and for the other group 21.1%. This relationship was independent of smoking status, cancer stage, treatment, comorbidities, age and gender. More research is needed to validate this finding.
