Several cancer patients are seen to neglect mental health as they often tend to leave their emotional health unassessed and untreated.

The Clinical Oncology Society of Australia meeting took place today in Melbourne, where Psychologist Jane Fletcher said every one in four patients have an anxiety disorder and some of the patients have more serious conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder.

Ways like the cognitive behaviour therapy can come out to be very helpful in treating such patients but it has been seen that the patients are embarrassed to come forward.

Therefore, health professionals have now been ordered to keep check on the mental health of the recently diagnosed cancer patients and make a point of they happen to show signs of anxiety or distress.

She asserted that if some necessary actions would not be taken there was a probability that their conditions would further augment and result in more serious issues, including panic attacks.

"There is a lot of under-reporting, unmet need and high levels of morbidity. The impact [of anxiety disorders] on cancer patients and their family members can be significant and long-term", she said.

She said since there was a lot of under reporting of the issue, it was likely to pose some serious danger to the patient and their family members in the long run.