SynthesisBMC psychology2025
"Anxiety and worry" induces fear transformation in cancer patients: an evidence-based exploration and theoretical consideration of the emotional evolution in tumor patients.
Synthesis in BMC psychology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveThe aim is to empirically explore the relationship between the occurrence of affective distress and the fear transformation in cancer patients, and to analyze the theoretical implications of their development from multiple perspectives.
methodsRelevant studies on the transformation of affective distress into fear in cancer patients were retrieved from databases including CNKI (China National Knowledge Infrastructure), Wan Fang Data, SinoMed (China Biomedical Literature Database), PubMed, Embase, and others, up to July 12, 2025. Meta-analysis of the included studies was performed using R 4.4.1.
results①A total of 27 studies were included in this research, covering 9 types of cancer and involving 14,011 participants. These included 24 cross-sectional studies, 2 cohort studies, and 1 case-control study. ②The meta-analysis revealed a significant association between the occurrence of fear and depressive emotions in cancer patients [1.63, 95% CI (1.40, 1.88), P < 0.001]. Multi-factor meta-regression analysis explained 59.31% of the total heterogeneity at the model level, although the source of heterogeneity remained unclear. Subgroup analysis showed that affective distress in cancer patients was more likely to evolve toward fear of cancer progression[2.13, 95% CI (1.41, 3.23), P < 0.001]. Additionally, female cancer patients were more susceptible to the influence of affective distress[2.36, 95% CI (1.54, 3.63), P < 0.001], leading to a higher likelihood of experiencing fear. ③Previous literature studies have shown that various hormones (such as dopamine, oxytocin, cortisol, etc.) influence the emotional evolution process through the neuroendocrine system, specifically the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. Additionally, multiple pro-inflammatory cytokines, including microglial cells, are involved in this process and trigger immune responses, collectively affecting the fear circuits in the amygdala and prefrontal cortex.
conclusionThe depressive emotions and fear states in cancer patients are independently associated, and several mechanisms and theories partially suggest a potential causal relationship. However, due to limitations in the research methods, further clinical trials and basic research are still needed to provide more robust evidence for this causal relationship and biological mechanisms.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.