SynthesisPsycho-oncology2017
What do people fear about cancer? A systematic review and meta-synthesis of cancer fears in the general population.
Synthesis in Psycho-oncology, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 84 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
84 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Sociocultural factors influencing women's adherence to colorectal, breast, and cervical cancer screening: a systematic review.BMC public health · 2025Pooled it
- Impact of mindfulness practices to improve quality of life and mental health of persons diagnosed with breast cancer: a systematic review.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Pooled it
- Women's experiences with yoga after a cancer diagnosis: a qualitative meta-synthesis-part I.Systematic reviews · 2023Pooled it
- Systematic review on women's values and preferences concerning breast cancer screening and diagnostic services.Psycho-oncology · 2019Pooled it
- What do people fear about cancer? A systematic review and meta-synthesis of cancer fears in the general population.Psycho-oncology · 2017Pooled it
- Acceptability of de-intensified screening for women at low risk of breast cancer: a randomised online experimental survey.BMC cancer · 2024Trial
- Theory-based training to promote breast cancer screening among women with breast cancer worries: randomized controlled trial.Sao Paulo medical journal = Revista paulista de medicina · 2020Trial
- Article
- Anxiety and screening attitudes in breast cancer patients and their first-degree relatives: A comparative pilot study.Turkish journal of surgery · 2026Article
- Development and validation and risk factor analysis of the colorectal cancer psychosocial distress scale.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- The Invisibility of the Multiply Stigmatized Patient: Intersections of Ethnic Prejudice and Stigma of Chronic Disease in Medical Students.Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities · 2026Article
- Using systems thinking to guide the dissemination of the European code against cancer, 5th edition.Molecular oncology · 2026Article
- Patients' Emotional Experiences and Life Changes Following a Diagnosis of Skin Cancer: A Qualitative Study Comparing Melanoma and Squamous Cell Carcinoma.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
- Predicting the Determinants of Colorectal Cancer Screening Behaviors Using Protection Motivation Theory: A Cross-Sectional Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling Analysis.Health science reports · 2025Article
- Fear of cancer levels of women who applied cervical cancer screening: a cross-sectional study of the effects of health beliefs related to cervical cancer and Pap-Smear test.Cancer causes & control : CCC · 2025Article
- Patients' Experiences of Diagnostic and Therapeutic High-Resolution Endoscopy in Treating Anal Squamous Intraepithelial Lesions: A Qualitative Study.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Prevalence and predictors of carcinophobia among the non cancer population in Saudi Arabia.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Review
- Evaluation of Barriers Preventing Regular Mammography Screening.Oncology nursing forum · 2025Article
- Breast Cancer Genetic Services in a South African Setting: Proband Testing, Cascading and Clinical Management.Cancer medicine · 2025Article
24 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundCancer has long inspired fear, but the effect of fear is not well understood; it seems both to facilitate and to deter early diagnosis behaviours. To elucidate fear's behavioural effects, we systematically reviewed and synthesised qualitative literature to explore what people fear about cancer.
methodsWe searched Medline, Embase, PsycInfo, Web of Science, AnthroSource, and Anthrobase for studies on cancer fear in breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer screening and analysed 102 studies from 26 countries using thematic synthesis.
resultsFears of cancer emanated from a core view of cancer as a vicious, unpredictable, and indestructible enemy, evoking fears about its proximity, the (lack of) strategies to keep it at bay, the personal and social implications of succumbing, and fear of dying from cancer.
conclusionsThis view of cancer as 'an enemy' reprises the media's 'war on cancer' theme and may affect the acceptance of cancer early detection and prevention messages, since cancer's characteristics influenced whether 'fight' or 'flight' was considered appropriate.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.