SynthesisBMJ open2018
Quality of life of elderly patients with solid tumours undergoing adjuvant cancer therapy: a systematic review.
Synthesis in BMJ open, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers, 2 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
23 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 39 citations in OpenAlex.
- Health-related quality of life in Her2-positive early breast cancer woman using trastuzumab: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2023Pooled it
- Meta-Analysis of Quality of Life in Cancer Patients Treated With Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors.Journal of the National Cancer Institute · 2022Pooled it
- Melatonin supplementation for quality of life in older patients with advanced cancer: a randomized controlled trial.BMC geriatrics · 2025Trial
- Impact of radiotherapy on quality of life reported by elderly patients.Clinical & translational oncology : official publication of the Federation of Spanish Oncology Societies and of the National Cancer Institute of Mexico · 2026Article
- Cancer patients' satisfaction with day care unit services have impact on their quality of life.Medicine and pharmacy reports · 2025Article
- The Effect of the Number of Adjuvant Chemotherapy Cycles Following Cancer Surgery on Taste Alteration, Energy Intake, and Life Quality: 6-Month Follow-Up Study.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Quality of life in older patients with cancer and related unmet needs: a scoping review.Acta oncologica (Stockholm, Sweden) · 2025Article
- Treatment Patterns and Postoperative Activities of Daily Living in Patients with Non-small Cell Lung Cancer: A Retrospective Study Using Nationwide Health Services Utilization Data in Japan.Annals of surgical oncology · 2024Article
- Identifying central dimensions of quality of life including life-related values, preferences and functional health in older patients with cancer: a scoping review protocol.Frontiers in psychology · 2024Article
- Assessing patient-reported outcomes (PROs) and patient-related outcomes in randomized cancer clinical trials for older adults: Results of DATECAN-ELDERLY initiative.Journal of geriatric oncology · 2024Review
- Quality of life of older gynecologic oncology patients at the initiation of chemotherapy.Nursing open · 2023Article
- Review
- Article
- Quality-of-life and toxicity in cancer patients treated with multiple courses of radiation therapy.Clinical and translational radiation oncology · 2022Article
- SBRT for elderly oligometastatic patients as a feasible, safe and effective treatment opportunity.Clinical & experimental metastasis · 2021Article
- Risk factors for poor health-related quality of life in patients with colon cancer include stoma and smoking habits.Health and quality of life outcomes · 2021Article
- Does Major Pancreatic Surgery Have Utility in Nonagenarians with Pancreas Cancer?Annals of surgical oncology · 2021Article
- Health-related quality of life in breast cancer patients: review of reviews from 2008 to 2018.Health and quality of life outcomes · 2020Review
- Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesThe measurement of quality of life (QoL) in elderly cancer population is increasingly being recognised as an important element of clinical decision-making and the evaluation of treatment outcome. This systematic review aimed to summarise the evidence of QoL during and after adjuvant therapy in elderly patients with cancer.
methodsA systematic search was conducted of studies published in CINAHL plus, CENTRAL, PubMed, PsycINFO and Web of Science from the inception of these databases to December 2016. Eligible studies included RCTs and non-RCTs in which QoL was measured in elderly patients (aged 65 years or above) with stage I-III solid tumours who were undergoing adjuvant chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy. Because of the heterogeneity and the insufficient data among the included studies, the results were synthesised narratively.
resultsWe included 4 RCTs and 14 non-RCTs on 1785 participants. In all four RCTs, the risk of bias was low or unclear for most items but high for detection. Of the 14 non-RCTs, 5 studies were judged to have a low or moderate risk of bias for all domains, and the other 9 studies had a serious risk of bias in at least one domain. The bias was observed mainly in the confounding and in the selection of participants for the study. For most elderly patients with breast cancer, the non-significant negative change in the QoL was transient. A significant increase in the QoL during the course of temozolomide in elderly patients with glioblastoma but a decreasing trend in QoL after radiotherapy was shown. This review also shows a uniform trend of stable or improved QoL during adjuvant therapy and at follow-up evaluations across the studies with prostate, colon or cervical cancer population.
conclusionsThis review suggests that adjuvant chemotherapy and radiotherapy may not have detrimental effects on QoL in most elderly patients with solid tumours.
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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.