Most of cancer patients are suffering from psychological distress which is under-diagnosed and under-treated in China. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the psychometric properties of a new screening instrument for psychological distress in cancer patients based on Chinese culture and personality traits. The scale was created after face-to-face interviews and focus group discussion of 50 medical staffand 30 cancer patients; the analysis of reliability and validity came from 1122 scales completed by cancer patients and non-cancer patients. Data was analyzed for internal consistency reliability, construct validity and discrimination validity in clinical practice. The internal consistency reliability of the scale was 0.906. Principal components factor analysis and structural equation modeling showed that the scale was comprised of four dimensions: depression, anxiety, interpersonal barrier and suspiciousness. The ift indices were χ2(149)=257.594, χ2/d?=1.729, GFI=0.927, NFI=0.846, NNFI=0.906, RMSEA=0.061. These results indicated there were signiifcant differences between cancer patients and non-cancer patients, with respect to the total scores, anxiety scores, interpersonal barrier scores and suspiciousness scores. The psychological distress scale is a new screening instrument for Chinese cancer patients, which is in line with the emphasis of Chinese culture.