Malgorzata Heinrich

What do people fear about cancer? A systematic review and meta‐synthesis of cancer fears in the general population

Cancer 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 fears behavioural effects, we systematically reviewed and synthesised qualitative literature to explore what people fear about cancer.

Health behaviours and fear of cancer recurrence in 10 969 colorectal cancer (CRC) patients

This study aimed to examine whether fear of cancer recurrence (FCR) was related to two important health behaviours (physical activity and smoking) in a large sample of colorectal cancer patients.

Weight Loss and Mortality in Overweight and Obese Cancer Survivors: A Systematic Review

Background Excess adiposity is a risk factor for poorer cancer survival, but there is uncertainty over whether losing weight reduces the risk. We conducted a critical review of the literature examining weight loss and mortality in overweight or obese cancer survivors. Methods We systematically searched PubMed and EMBASE for articles reporting associations between weight loss and mortality (cancer-specific or all-cause) in overweight/obese patients with obesity-related cancers. Where available, data from the same studies on non-overweight patients were compared. Results Five articles describing observational studies in breast cancer survivors were included. Four studies reported a positive association between weight loss and mortality in overweight/obese survivors, and the remaining study observed no significant association. Results were similar for non-overweight survivors. Quality assessment indicated high risk of bias across studies. Conclusions There is currently a lack of observational evidence that weight loss improves survival for overweight and obese cancer survivors. However, the potential for bias in these studies is considerable and the results likely reflect the consequences of disease-related rather than intentional weight loss. There is a need for stronger study designs, incorporating measures of intentionality of weight loss, and extended to other cancers.

The Impact of Diet-Induced Weight Loss on Biomarkers for Colorectal Cancer: An Exploratory Study (INTERCEPT)

The aim of this study was to explore the potential effects of diet‐induced weight loss on molecular biomarkers of colorectal cancer risk in serum and colorectal tissue.