From July 1990 to July 1991 252 cancer patients admitted consecutively to the Department of Oncology, University Hospital of Tromsø, were included in a questionnaire-based study. The aim of the study was to examine the delays involved in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. The study also focused on the psychological distress related to these periods of delay. A significant correlation between psychological distress and the actual length of delay (weeks) was revealed (p < 0.01). psychological distress was also correlated positively to the degree of depression (p < 0.01). Women found delays more distressing than men (p < 0.01). Patients from the northern areas (Troms and Finnmark counties) considered a cancer unit in Northern Norway to be of greater importance than those living in the southern area (Nordland county).