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World J Gastrointest Oncol. Dec 15, 2026; 18(12): 125687
Published online Dec 15, 2026. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.125687
Published online Dec 15, 2026. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.125687
Latent profiles and associated factors of fear of recurrence in postoperative patients with gastrointestinal stromal tumours: A cross‑sectional study
Hui Hou, Ying-Chun Hao, Cong-Yan Zhu, Li Chen, Department of Gastric Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital with Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210029, Jiangsu Province, China
Author contributions: Hou H carried out the studies, participated in collecting data, and drafted the manuscript; Chen L performed the statistical analysis and participated in its design; Hao YC and Zhu CY participated in acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
AI contribution statement: Portions of this manuscript were edited using AI tools for language refinement and revision-letter polishing. All scientific content, data analysis, and conclusions were completed and verified by the authors. The authors take full responsibility for the integrity and accuracy of the entire manuscript.
Supported by Collaborative Innovation Center for Personalized Oncology Medicine-Jointly Constructed by the Ministry and the Province and Funded by Hengrui Pharmaceutical Clinical Research Foundation, No. JZ214490202106/009.
Institutional review board statement: Ethical approval for the study was obtained from the Ethics Committee of the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University (Approval No. 2021-SR-465). I confirm that all methods were performed in accordance with the relevant guidelines. All procedures were performed in accordance with the ethical standards laid down in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments.
Informed consent statement: All participants provided written informed consent prior to enrollment.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement-checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement-checklist of items.
Data sharing statement: The de-identified dataset, detailed variable dictionary, and Mplus/SPSS analysis syntax used in this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request at 243743666@qq.com.
Corresponding author: Li Chen, Department of Gastric Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital with Nanjing Medical University, No. 300 Guangzhou Road, Nanjing 210029, Jiangsu Pro
Received: July 15, 2026
Revised: September 2, 2026
Accepted: October 29, 2026
Published online: December 15, 2026
Processing time: 118 Days and 12.8 Hours
Revised: September 2, 2026
Accepted: October 29, 2026
Published online: December 15, 2026
Processing time: 118 Days and 12.8 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: To our knowledge, this study is the first to use latent profile analysis to identify three distinct fear of recurrence (FoR) subgroups among postoperative gastrointestinal stromal tumours (GIST) patients: Low fear-optimistic (34.7%), moderate fear-fluctuating (40.8%), and high fear-distressed (24.5%). Younger age, unemployment or retirement, high pathological risk, and negative illness perceptions were independently associated with severe FoR. These findings provide a novel framework for personalized, risk-stratified nursing interventions targeting psychological distress in GIST survivors.