SynthesisFrontiers in oncology2021
Patient-Reported Outcomes Assessing the Impact of Palliative Radiotherapy on Quality of Life and Symptom Burden in Head and Neck Cancer Patients: A Systematic Review.
Synthesis in Frontiers in oncology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 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
8 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Implementing patient-centred outcome measures in palliative care clinical practice. An updated systematic review of facilitators and barriers.BMC palliative care · 2026Pooled it
- Use and Reporting of Patient-Reported Outcomes in Trials of Palliative Radiotherapy: A Systematic Review.JAMA network open · 2022Pooled it
- Development and validation of a self-management ability scale for patients with head and neck cancer undergoing radiotherapy and chemotherapy (SMA-HNC).Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Multi-perspective views about healthcare experiences for those with incurable head and neck cancer: A prospective, longitudinal, qualitative study.Palliative medicine · 2026Article
- Sequential immune checkpoint inhibition after palliative radiotherapy in patients with advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma: A retrospective cohort study.Molecular and clinical oncology · 2026Article
- Circulating tumour cells for the prediction of the response to radiation therapy in prostate cancer.The British journal of radiology · 2025Review
- Response of Spontaneous Oral Tumors in Canine Cancer Patients Treated with Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT).Radiation research · 2024Article
- The impact of palliative radiotherapy on health-related quality of life in patients with head and neck cancer - Results of a multicenter prospective cohort study.Clinical and translational radiation oncology · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Incurable head and neck cancer has a poor prognosis and impairs a patient's health-related quality of life. Palliative radiotherapy may improve or stabilize health-related quality of life and symptoms, best measured by patient-reported outcomes. There is no systematic analysis if palliative radiotherapy for head and neck cancer improves or stabilizes health-related quality of life or symptoms as validly measured by patient-reported outcomes. Therefore, the primary objective of this systematic review (PROSPERO-ID: CRD42020166434) was to assess the effect of palliative radiotherapy for head and neck cancer on patient-reported outcomes. The secondary objective was to assess the rate and quality of use of patient-reported outcomes in relevant studies claiming a "palliative effect" of radiotherapy. The databases MEDLINE/PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane CENTRAL, "ClinicalTrials.gov" were searched. Concerning the primary objective, four studies were eligible to assess the effectiveness of palliative radiotherapy as measured by patient-reported outcomes. A narrative synthesis suggests a favorable impact of palliative radiotherapy on health-related quality of life and symptom burden. The risk of bias, however, is considerable and the overall quality of evidence low. Concerning the secondary objective, over 90% of studies claiming a "palliative effect" of palliative radiotherapy did either not use patient-reported outcomes or did so by limited quality. In conclusion, implementation of patient-reported outcomes in studies assessing palliative radiotherapy for head and neck cancer should be fostered. Palliative radiotherapy remains an option for head and neck cancer patients, although more studies focusing on patient-reported outcomes are needed. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/, identifier CRD42020166434.
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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.