Psychodynamics of four women with delayed cancer diagnosis

Four young women from 28 to 35 years old were referred for psychiatric evaluation because of anxiety, depression, and rage following diagnosis and treatment (radical hysterectomy in all plus radiation therapy in two) of carcinoma of the cervix. Negligence and dishonesty on the part of the laboratory that reported their Pap smears as normal when actually they had been either carelessly examined or not read at all intensified their emotional reactions of shock, panic, and fury. Feelings of injustice and victimization and fantasies about the laboratory technicians, who were women in their age group, complicated the clinical picture. The depressions that ensued in all of the women were prolonged and the working-through processes were impaired despite the fact that three have apparently been cured of their malignant disease.