Sign in

Heinz Freisling

@hfreisling.bsky.social
33 followers 30 following 47 posts

Hi, I am epidemiologist at the International Agency for Research on Cancer. Posts reflect my own opinions and views.

PostsRepliesMedia
Heinz Freisling @hfreisling.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
A data leak shut a top research biobank: lessons from the recovery www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
A data leak shut a top research biobank: lessons from the recovery
UK Biobank is imposing new safety measures after a security incident, but safeguarding biomedical data while enabling researcher access remains a challenge.
000
Heinz Freisling @hfreisling.bsky.social · 12/07/2026
doi.org/10.1038/s414...
doi.org
Anthropometric traits, metabolic biomarkers, and pancreatic cancer risk: a causal mediation analysis in UK Biobank - British Journal of Cancer
British Journal of Cancer - Anthropometric traits, metabolic biomarkers, and pancreatic cancer risk: a causal mediation analysis in UK Biobank
000
Heinz Freisling @hfreisling.bsky.social · 12/07/2026
📢Blood glucose🩸and HbA1c explained up to ~20% of #obesity #pancreatic cancer association. 👉underscoring the importance of metabolic health. @michaeljstein.bsky.social @lperuchetnoray.bsky.social et al. 👉https://doi.org/10.1038/s41416-026-03524-9
000
Heinz Freisling @hfreisling.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
Is AI ruining our skills? Early results are in — and they’re not good www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
Is AI ruining our skills? Early results are in — and they’re not good
Reliance on artificial-intelligence tools degrades the abilities of physicians and software engineers, studies show.
000
Heinz Freisling @hfreisling.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
👋Proteins in blood 🩸linked to how #cardiometabolic diseases & #cancer develop together over time. 👉Findings could help improve early detection & prevention of #multimorbidity. @michaeljstein.bsky.social et al. #NCMTeam at IARC #OpenAccess 👉 rdcu.be/fp0BC
rdcu.be
Proteomics of multimorbidity progression across cardiometabolic diseases and cancer in a multinational cohort
030
Heinz Freisling @hfreisling.bsky.social · 10/05/2026
🔥#IARC60 is coming! ⏩Want to bring yourself up-to-speed beforehand? 📰A great place to start would be our article on Nutritional epidemiology🥦🍔 & cancer aetiology IARC@60 edition of @JNCI_Now Monographs! academic.oup.com/jncimono/iss... Register iarc2026conf.iarc.who.int/en/registrat...
academic.oup.com
Volume 2026 Issue 72 | JNCI Monographs | Oxford Academic
Publishes monographs dealing with cancer and closely related research fields, or related groups of papers on specific subjects of importance to cancer research.
000
Heinz Freisling @hfreisling.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
👉Higher BMI raises obesity‑related cancer risk at all ages 30–65. 👉BMI in midlife (40s–50s) may matter most, but excess adiposity anytime in adulthood increases cancer risk. @NadinHawwash et al #ABAcus #ARIC #EPIC #WHI #PLCO #AARP onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/UFQR5C...
000
Heinz Freisling @hfreisling.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
"Working scientists must reaffirm that the human brain is still much better at innovation than AI is." www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
Don’t let your students use AI as a ghostwriter
How a research proposal generated by artificial intelligence transformed my approach to teaching and supervision.
000
Heinz Freisling @hfreisling.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
👉Challenges and promises of nutritional epidemiology to investigate cancer etiology academic.oup.com/jncimono/art...
academic.oup.com
Challenges and promises of nutritional epidemiology to investigate cancer etiology
Abstract. The relationship between diet and cancer is complex and has been the subject of scientific controversy. Recent estimates of the fraction of cance
010
Heinz Freisling @hfreisling.bsky.social · 08/04/2026
Science must protect thinking time in a world of instant communication www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
Science must protect thinking time in a world of instant communication
E-mails and instant messaging are core to research — but also a distraction. Researchers should study their impact on science, and how they can claw back time to concentrate.
000
Heinz Freisling @hfreisling.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
Your blood remembers when you excercise. 🏃‍♀️🧬 👉220 proteins shifted with physical activity, many tied to lower cancer and cardiometabolic risk. 🧐A glimpse into the biology of prevention. @michaeljstein.bsky.social @wcrf.org @ukbiobank.ac.uk www.nature.com/articles/s43...
nature.com
Proteomics signature of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity and risk of multimorbidity of cancer and cardiometabolic diseases - Communications Medicine
Stein et al. identify circulating blood proteins linked to regular moderate-to-vigorous physical activity in over 33,000 UK Biobank participants. Many of these proteins are associated with lower risk ...
020
Heinz Freisling @hfreisling.bsky.social · 26/02/2026
Point of no returns: researchers are crossing a threshold in the fight for funding www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
Point of no returns: researchers are crossing a threshold in the fight for funding
With so little money to go round, the costs of competing for grants can exceed what the grants are worth. When that happens, nobody wins.
000
Heinz Freisling @hfreisling.bsky.social · 25/02/2026
Don’t deprioritize curiosity-driven research www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
Don’t deprioritize curiosity-driven research
Around the world, governments are demanding that research funding follow broader political priorities. They should be careful what they wish for.
000
Heinz Freisling @hfreisling.bsky.social · 05/02/2026
Open-source AI tool beats giant LLMs in literature reviews — and gets citations right www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
Open-source AI tool beats giant LLMs in literature reviews — and gets citations right
Researchers can deploy the cheap and transparent model on their own computer system.
000
Heinz Freisling @hfreisling.bsky.social · 23/01/2026
This 👉 I’m going to halve my publication output. You should consider slow science, too www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
I’m going to halve my publication output. You should consider slow science, too
If we don’t slow down, the research enterprise is going to crash, argues Adrian Barnett.
010
Heinz Freisling @hfreisling.bsky.social · 23/01/2026
The rich stopped buying yachts the year time went on sale www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
The rich stopped buying yachts the year time went on sale
Second thoughts.
000
Heinz Freisling @hfreisling.bsky.social · 17/01/2026
Interested in cancer prevention through #pyhsical activity? 👉
000
Heinz Freisling @hfreisling.bsky.social · 17/01/2026
The academic community failed Wikipedia for 25 years — now it might fail us www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
The academic community failed Wikipedia for 25 years — now it might fail us
Artificial-intelligence systems are feeding on Wikipedia without giving back, and academic indifference is threatening the survival of what is arguably the most widely used reference work on the plane...
000
Heinz Freisling @hfreisling.bsky.social · 14/12/2025
👋Lower socioeconomic position = higher #multimorbidity of #cancer #diabetes & #CVDs. 👉Healthy lifestyle partly mediates this link, more so in men (29%) than women (11%). jech.bmj.com/content/80/1/3
jech.bmj.com
Does lifestyle explain the relationship between socioeconomic position and multimorbidity of cancer and cardiometabolic diseases? A mediation analysis applied to the European Prospective Investigation...
Background Multimorbidity is socially patterned, with lower socioeconomic position (SEP) linked to higher risk. We examined whether a Healthy Lifestyle Index (HLI) mediates the SEP–multimorbidity asso...
000
Heinz Freisling @hfreisling.bsky.social · 27/11/2025
A ten-year drive to credit authors for their work — and why there’s still more to do www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
A ten-year drive to credit authors for their work — and why there’s still more to do
Information about the roles of each author of a paper can help to build trust, integrity and responsible research assessment. Coordinated efforts are needed to consolidate progress.
000
Heinz Freisling @hfreisling.bsky.social · 28/10/2025
👉 With Lancet's refined definition of #obesity, we found clinical obesity (excess fat + organ dysfunction) linked to a 56% higher #mortality vs. no obesity. 👉 #BMI alone misses key risks. @michaeljstein.bsky.social @uniregensburg.bsky.social 🙏 @wcrf.org 👉 10.1001/jamainternmed.2025.4978
131
Heinz Freisling @hfreisling.bsky.social · 28/10/2025
Regression adjustment for causal inference bmjmedicine.bmj.com/content/4/1/...
bmjmedicine.bmj.com
Regression adjustment for causal inference
Causal inference identifies and quantifies the effect of an exposure (the hypothetical cause) to an outcome. While randomised controlled trial design is the preferred method for establishing and measu...
020
Heinz Freisling @hfreisling.bsky.social · 13/10/2025
👋Imaging-derived organ measurements outperform #BMI in predicting risks for #diabetes, #cancer & #mortality. 👉Advanced imaging may redefine how we assess obesity-related health risks. #ObesityResearch doi.org/10.1186/s129...
doi.org
Client Challenge
000
Heinz Freisling @hfreisling.bsky.social · 28/09/2025
👋MR analyses (~40K Europeans) showed causal links between specific fat depots and #cancer 👉Liver fat ↑ liver cancer risk 👉Pancreas fat ↑ ovarian cancer risk 👉Abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue ↑ endometrial ↑ liver, ↑ esophageal, ↑ovarian cancer @wcrf.org 👉 doi.org/10.1093/jnci...
doi.org
Adiposity distribution and risks of 12 obesity-related cancers: a Mendelian randomization analysis
AbstractIntroduction. There is convincing evidence that overall adiposity increases the risks of several cancers. Whether the distribution of adiposity pla
011
Heinz Freisling @hfreisling.bsky.social · 21/08/2025
👋Plant-based dietary patterns and age-specific risk of multimorbidity of cancer and cardiometabolic diseases: a prospective analysis - The Lancet Healthy Longevity #cancer #cvd #diabetes www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
thelancet.com
Plant-based dietary patterns and age-specific risk of multimorbidity of cancer and cardiometabolic diseases: a prospective analysis
A healthy plant-based diet might reduce the burden of multimorbidity of cancer and cardiometabolic diseases among middle-aged and older adults.
000
Heinz Freisling @hfreisling.bsky.social · 19/08/2025
Daily steps and health outcomes in adults: a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis - The Lancet Public Health www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
thelancet.com
Daily steps and health outcomes in adults: a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis
Although 10 000 steps per day can still be a viable target for those who are more active, 7000 steps per day is associated with clinically meaningful improvements in health outcomes and might be a mor...
000
Heinz Freisling @hfreisling.bsky.social · 08/07/2025
📢Postmenopausal women with CVD have a 31% higher risk of breast cancer with each 5 kg/m² increase in BMI, compared to a 13% increase in those without CVD. #BreastCancer #CVD 🙏 @wcrf.org 👉 doi.org/10.1002/cncr...
010
Heinz Freisling @hfreisling.bsky.social · 28/03/2025
👋 Preprint for comments: @michaeljstein.bsky.social et al. #proteomics #physicalActivity #multimorbidity #cancer www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...
medrxiv.org
Proteomics signature of physical activity and risk of multimorbidity of cancer and cardiometabolic diseases
Background: Cancer, cardiovascular diseases (CVD), and type 2 diabetes (T2D) may co-occur, a condition referred to as multimorbidity. Physical activity is inversely associated with each of these disea...
010
Heinz Freisling @hfreisling.bsky.social · 26/03/2025
👋Adults with #cancer with a history of #diabetes and/or #cardiovascular diseases have a survival disadvantage compared with those with no history of these comorbidities. 🙏Institut national du cancer (INCa) bmjmedicine.bmj.com/content/4/1/...
bmjmedicine.bmj.com
Associations between cardiometabolic comorbidities and mortality in adults with cancer: multinational cohort study
Objective To examine separate and joint associations between pre-existing cardiometabolic comorbidities and all cause and cause specific mortality in adults with cancer.Design Multinational cohort stu...
010
Heinz Freisling @hfreisling.bsky.social · 26/03/2025
@foodwatch-int.bsky.social 👉
000
Heinz Freisling @hfreisling.bsky.social · 25/03/2025
Food environment and obesity: a systematic review and meta-analysis nutrition.bmj.com/content/7/1/...
nutrition.bmj.com
Food environment and obesity: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Background Obesity is influenced by a complex, multifaceted system of determinants, including the food environment. Governments need evidence to act on improving the food environment. The aim of this ...
000
Heinz Freisling @hfreisling.bsky.social · 23/03/2025
📢#Alcohol and #smoking habits in association with #hepatocellularcarcinoma risk 👉 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Alcohol and smoking habits in association with hepatocellular carcinoma risk
Smoking and alcohol consumption are modifiable lifestyle risk factors for hepatocellular carcinoma. While they differentially contribute to DNA damage, proto-oncogene activation, and mitochondrial im....
020
Heinz Freisling @hfreisling.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
👋reminder ⬆️a higher consumption of #nuts is inversely associated with risk of certain #cancers and dying from cancer. www.mdpi.com/2198962
mdpi.com
Dried Fruits, Nuts, and Cancer Risk and Survival: A Review of the Evidence and Future Research Directions
Dried fruits and nuts contain high amounts of nutrients and phytochemicals—all of which may have anticarcinogenic, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant properties. This narrative review summarizes the e...
000
Heinz Freisling @hfreisling.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
👋An overdue formal head to head of #RCTs and #cohort studies in #nutrition 👉 👏 Stadelmaier et al. rdcu.be/d8Zgj
rdcu.be
Evaluating agreement between individual nutrition randomised controlled trials and cohort studies - a meta-epidemiological study | BMC Medicine
000
Heinz Freisling @hfreisling.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
How one language family took over the world: ancient DNA traces its spread www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
How one language family took over the world: ancient DNA traces its spread
Millennia-old genomes suggest Indo–European tongues originated from the Caucasus mountain region.
000
Heinz Freisling @hfreisling.bsky.social · 05/02/2025
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
How are researchers using AI? Survey reveals pros and cons for science
Despite strong interest in using artificial intelligence to make research faster, easier and more accessible, researchers say they need more support to navigate its possibilities.
011
Heinz Freisling @hfreisling.bsky.social · 05/02/2025
👋 Is your #bodyshape linked to early death? Bohmann P. @michaeljstein.bsky.social @julian-konzok.bsky.social et al. @uniregensburg.bsky.social @dfg.de 👉 journals.lww.com/epidem/abstr...
journals.lww.com
Body Shapes of Multiple Anthropometric Traits and All-cause ... : Epidemiology
ds: Using UK Biobank data from 462,301 adults (40–69 years at baseline: 2006–2010), we derived four body shapes from principal component analysis on body mass index, height, weight, waist and hip ci...
031
Heinz Freisling @hfreisling.bsky.social · 04/02/2025
go.nature.com/40BVP1H
go.nature.com
World Cancer Day 2025: United by Unique
We are commemorating World Cancer Day by sharing a selection of Springer Nature journal articles, collections, clinical trial registrations and blog posts chosen by our publishers.
000
Heinz Freisling @hfreisling.bsky.social · 28/01/2025
Nice study highlighting challenges associated with accessibility to the Mediterranean diet, particularly for the most disadvantaged populations. Public policies are suggested to facilitate its wider adoption. www.mdpi.com/61012
mdpi.com
Cost and Cost-Effectiveness of the Mediterranean Diet: Results of a Systematic Review
The growing impact of chronic degenerative pathologies (such as cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease) requires and pushes towards the development of new preventive strategie...
000
Heinz Freisling @hfreisling.bsky.social · 27/01/2025
Both sufficient #physical activity & lean #waist matter for #cancer prevention👉 @michaeljstein.bsky.social @julian-konzok.bsky.social et al 🙏 @wcrf.org bit.ly/3EbdrKk
bit.ly
WHO guidelines on waist circumference and physical activity and their joint association with cancer risk
Objective Low body fat and high physical activity levels are key lifestyle factors in cancer prevention, but the interplay of abdominal obesity and physical activity on cancer risk remains unknown. We...
002
Heinz Freisling @hfreisling.bsky.social · 27/01/2025
Hôtel-Dieu, this morning🤩 Lyon, France 🇫🇷
000
Heinz Freisling @hfreisling.bsky.social · 17/12/2024
📢 Spoiler alert: In #midlife, the environment rather than genetic predisposition driving #Obesity 👉 👏 Dr Laia Peruchet-Noray et al. 🙏 @Institut_cancer Nature or nurture? sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
001
Heinz Freisling @hfreisling.bsky.social · 09/12/2024
#Movember at IARC-WHO Mo Bros and Mo Sisters supporting Men's #Health
000
Reposted by Heinz Freisling
Sophie Pilleron @spilleron.bsky.social · 03/12/2024
That is a super great news 😄
051
Heinz Freisling @hfreisling.bsky.social · 09/12/2024
📢Excess weight by degree and duration and #cancer risk 👏 @NadinHawwash & colleagues @eClinicalMed 👉 sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
000
Heinz Freisling @hfreisling.bsky.social · 31/10/2023
Hi @spilleron.bsky.social thx for inviting me to discover #bsky
130