-Background -The presence of psychiatric symptoms, anger, and personality characteristics are factors that affect the quality of life of newly diagnosed digestive system cancer patients. Objective -This study aims to identify which stable characteristics of the individual's personality interfere with quality of life, even when reactive emotional characteristics of falling ill are controlled. Methods -A cross-sectional study was performed at the Oncology Clinic (Hospital das Clínicas), Marília/SP, Brazil, in which 50 adult patients with digestive system cancer and diagnosed less than 6 months answered the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory, Temperament and Character Inventory, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and WHOQOL-BREF. Multiple regression was performed to verify if quality of life was related to stable characteristics of the subject's personality (anger trait, temperament and character) after controlling to the transient emotional aspects (anger state, psychiatric symptoms). Results -The quality of life psychological health score was higher in presence of self-directedness character and reward dependence temperament and quality of life environment score was higher in presence of self-directedness character and lower in presence of harm avoidance temperament. Conclusion -The psychological well-being and the adaptive needs to the environment that favoring a better quality of life were reinforced mainly by the self-directedness character; which means that patients more autonomous cope better with the disease. On the other hand, the harm avoidance temperament (meaning the patient has fear of aversive situations) impaired the adaptive capacity to deal with the changes of the day-to-day imposed by the disease. Understanding these personality traits is important to the health professionals drive the patient to more successful treatment. HEADINGS -Digestive system neoplasms. Personality. Anxiety. Depression. Quality of life. and who underwent total or partial laryngectomy also present a deficit in social and emotional functions in QOL scores (9) and in people with gastric cancer, hopelessness is observed as a major impact on QOL (34) .In fact, emotional reactions to cancer are important aspects in understanding the patient's QOL. A study (31) with 68 newly diagnosed head and neck cancer patients were consecutively selected to declare their perceptions about the disease and the own quality of life; it was concluded that the more concerned the patient was with the physical symptoms the more intense was the emotional reactions related to the disease, and the lower was the QOL scores. Other study (12) with 180 hepatic and colon cancer patients that answered about stressors aspects, coping and QOL related to the disease showed that patients with more active personality and more resilient had higher psychologic well-being and QOL.Being passive and active attitudes as coping strategies, it is important to identify which feelings are evolved in QOL aspects, mainly in newly diagnosed patients. It is known...