Liaison psychiatry in a breast cancer unit

The first 50 referrals to a newly established liaison psychiatry service for the breast cancer unit at Guy's Hospital, London, have been examined. The majority of referrals were for psychological reactions to malignant disease, most of these were mood disturbances. Patients with sustained psychological reactions to their malignant disease were more likely to have had treatment for previous psychiatric illness and to lack a confiding relationship compared with those whose psychological reactions were transient. Teaching doctors and nurses to deal effectively with the transient psychological reactions of patients to their malignant disease is an important task of liaison psychiatry.