[Psychological distress and cancer: facts and myths in the light of scientific evidence].

Psychological stress and cancer are frequently framed in causal narratives in public discourse; however, current scientific evidence does not support such assumptions. Epidemiological and prospective cohort studies indicate that psychological stress cannot be established as an independent carcinogenic factor, and population-level associations between stress and cancer incidence are consistently absent. Certain psychosocial variables, including maladaptive coping strategies or persistent high-level distress, show moderate and inconsistent associations with clinical outcomes (e.g., survival, recurrence), but these findings are heterogeneous and subject to methodological limitations. Psycho-oncological interventions effectively reduce psychological distress and improve quality of life, while direct causal effects on tumor progression remain unproven. Accordingly, psychosocial care is clinically warranted, contributing to patient well-being and adaptive coping, while clearly distinguishing these effects from biological causal pathways.