SynthesisBMC cancer2015
A systematic review of geographical variation in access to chemotherapy.
Synthesis in BMC cancer, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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
11 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 405 citations in OpenAlex.
- Geographic variations in place of death and palliative care utilisation in the last three months of life in high-income countries: a systematic review.BMC palliative care · 2025Pooled it
- Geographic and sociodemographic access to systemic anticancer therapies for secondary breast cancer: a systematic review.Systematic reviews · 2024Pooled it
- Barriers and facilitators to implementation of cancer treatment and palliative care strategies in low- and middle-income countries: systematic review.International journal of public health · 2018Pooled it
- On the road and away from home: a systematic review of the travel experiences of cancer patients and their families.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2018Pooled it
- Exploring the mediating role of active coping in reducing perceived stress among men with advanced prostate cancer: a randomized controlled trial of cognitive behavioral stress management.Journal of behavioral medicine · 2025Trial
- No regional survival disparities following curative gastrectomy in patients aged over 80 years with gastric cancer. a multicenter retrospective study.Surgery today · 2026Article
- Real-world outcomes following adjuvant chemotherapy for resected pancreatic cancer in a centralised oncology service.British journal of cancer · 2026Article
- The Road to Cancer Care: Understanding How Far Owners Travel for Their Pets' Oncology Treatment.Veterinary sciences · 2025Article
- Delivery of Outpatient Parenteral Antimicrobial Therapy (OPAT) in an Ever-Changing National Health Service (UK): Benefits, Barriers, and Opportunities.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Access to innovative drugs for metastatic lung cancer treatment in a French nationwide cohort: the TERRITOIRE study.BMC cancer · 2018Article
- Accountability in the NHS: the impact on cancer care.Ecancermedicalscience · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundRising cancer incidence, the cost of cancer pharmaceuticals and the introduction of the Cancer Drugs Fund in England, but not other United Kingdom(UK) countries means evidence of 'postcode prescribing' in cancer is important. There have been no systematic reviews considering access to cancer drugs by geographical characteristics in the UK.
methodsStudies describing receipt of cancer drugs, according to healthcare boundaries (e.g. cancer network [UK]) were identified through a systematic search of electronic databases and grey literature. Due to study heterogeneity a meta-analysis was not possible and a narrative synthesis was performed.
results8,780 unique studies were identified and twenty-six included following a systematic search last updated in 2015. The majority of papers demonstrated substantial variability in the likelihood of receiving chemotherapy between hospitals, health authorities, cancer networks and UK countries (England and Wales). After case-mix adjustment, there was up to a 4-5 fold difference in chemotherapy utilisation between the highest and lowest prescribing cancer networks. There was no strong evidence that rurality or distance travelled were associated with the likelihood of receiving chemotherapy and conflicting evidence for an effect of travel time.
conclusionsConsiderable variation in chemotherapy prescribing between healthcare boundaries has been identified. The absence of associations with natural geographical characteristics (e.g. rurality) and receipt of chemotherapy suggests that local treatment habits, capacity and policy are more influential.
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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.