Purpose Positive expectations about personal abilities and future outcomes are important in shaping human behavior and emotion, which may influence the psychological adjustment in cancer patients. We aimed to assess two basic kinds of perceived stress in Chinese cancer patients and to investigate their associations with demographic-clinical characteristics and positive expectations. Methods A multi-center, cross-sectional study was conducted in consecutive cervical, kidney, and bladder cancer inpatients from three general hospitals in Liaoning province from February 2013 to August 2014. A total of 790 patients eligible for this study completed questionnaires on demographic-clinical variables, optimism, general self-efficacy, perceived global, and cancer-related stress anonymously. Hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to examine the relationships between optimism, general self-efficacy, and perceived stress, after controlling for possible covariates. Results Mean score of perceived global stress was 17.85 (SD 4.43). Mean score of perceived cancer-related stress was 37.15 (SD 12.66); 38.1% of the sample scored 44 and above, 20.1% scored 50 and above. Education, physical activity, cancer stage, and time since diagnosis were significantly associated with perceived stress. Optimism and general self-efficacy accounted for an additional variance in perceived global (14.9%) and cancer-related stress (16.9%), and both of them were independent and protective variables of perceived stress. Conclusions This study recognized cancer patients at risk for high levels of perceived stress and extended the understanding of the association between positive expectations and perceived global and cancer-related stress. Enhancing or maintaining optimism and general self-efficacy might be potential targets for future psychosocial interventions aimed at relieving perceived stress in cancer patients.