This review aimed to consolidate existing knowledge on this phenomenon by incorporating direct testimonies from individuals who have experienced breast cancer.
A thorough metasynthesis of qualitative studies was conducted. English articles published prior to September 18 2023 were searched from eight databases, including PubMed, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Embase, the Chinese biomedical literature service system, the China National Knowledge Infrastructure, the Wanfang Database, and the Wipu Database. After screening the titles, abstracts, and full texts, six articles were finally included in the quality appraisal and metaaggregation.
A total of 30 research findings were distilled and integrated into three themes: causes of fear of cancer recurrence (FCR); feelings of FCR; coping with FCR; and six subthemes: disease treatment factors; psychological factors; FCR is worry and fear; overcoming; negative response; positive response.
FCR is a subjective feeling; it is influenced by the interplay between the external environment (adjuvant therapy) and internal environment (psychological factors). Therefore, future care measures should be designed comprehensively, considering the individual characteristics of breast cancer survivors and the external environment. This could be the primary focus for addressing FCR in cancer patients in the future.

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