The racial asymmetry further compounds the challenges in psycho-oncology, as psychiatric assessment in cancer patients using measures or instruments that have been standardized on Caucasian populations risk disregarding culture-specific nuances in the expression of emotional symptoms. Hence, this study aims to: (1) establish the prevalence of major depression and generalized anxiety disorder in a sample of Asian cancer patients; (2) describe the clinical characteristics of these patients, and determine if cancer patients with a psychiatric diagnosis differ from those without. Our study is unique in the use of a diagnostic instrument validated for the local Singapore population. To date, there are to the best of our knowledge, no similar Southeast Asian studies that addresses these concerns in cancer patients.