OBJECTIVE: To integrate the qualitative research on the self-management experience of breast cancer patients and conduct a systematic review of their self-management experience. METHODS: Using a computer to search a series of databases such as CNKI, Wanfang, VIP, and China Biomedical Database, systematically collect and integrate qualitative research on the self-management experience of breast cancer patients, and the search time is limited to January 2010 to December 2022. The qualitative research quality evaluation standard of the Joanna Briggs Institute Centre for Evidence-Based Health Care in Australia was used as the evaluation standard of this project to complete the accurate evaluation of the literature; Meta-analysis was used to complete the effective integration of the results. RESULTS: 17 pieces of literature were included in this project, and 37 research results with strong integrity were extracted accordingly. On this basis, 7 different categories were summarised, and three integrated results were obtained: the experience of maintaining self-management, symptom recognition, and self-management. CONCLUSION: In the different stages of self-management of breast cancer patients, medical staff should give targeted guidance to help patients obtain a good prognosis.

BACKGROUND: Despite global support, there remain gaps in the integration of early palliative care into cancer care. The methods of implementation whereby evidence of benefits of palliative care is translated into practice deserve attention. AIM: To identify implementation frameworks utilised in integrated palliative care in hospital-based oncology services and to describe the associated enablers and barriers to service integration. DESIGN: Systematic review with a narrative synthesis including qualitative, mixed methods, pre-post and quasi experimental designs following the guidance by the Centre for Reviews and Dissemination (PROSPERO registration CRD42021252092). DATA SOURCES: Six databases searched in 2021: EMBASE, EMCARE, APA PsycINFO, CINAHL, Cochrane Library and Ovid MEDLINE searched in 2023. Included were qualitative or quantitative studies, in English language, involving adults >18 years, and implementing hospital-based palliative care into cancer care. Critical appraisal tools were used to assess the quality and rigour. RESULTS: Seven of the 16 studies explicitly cited the use of frameworks including those based on RE-AIM, Medical Research Council evaluation of complex interventions and WHO constructs of health service evaluation. Enablers included an existing supportive culture, clear introduction to the programme across services, adequate funding, human resources and identification of advocates. Barriers included a lack of communication with the patients, caregivers, physicians and palliative care team about programme goals, stigma around the term 'palliative', a lack of robust training, or awareness of guidelines and undefined staff roles. CONCLUSIONS: Implementation science frameworks provide a method to underpin programme development and evaluation as palliative care is integrated within the oncology setting.

INTRODUCTION: Despite the potential benefits of effective communication, telling children about cancer, unpredictable and life-threatening conditions is challenging. This study aimed to summarise the communication tools used in cancer communication among children with cancer, caregivers and healthcare professionals. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: We will conduct a scoping review following the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses extension for scoping reviews checklist. We will search PubMed (including MEDLINE), Embase, CENTRAL, PsycINFO and CINAHL. We will include the qualitative and quantitative studies that reported the communication tools that tell a child diagnosed with cancer about the cancer-related information. We will summarise the communication tools and the impacts of the tools. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Formal ethical approval is not required, as primary data will not be collected in this study. The findings of this study will be disseminated through the presentation at the conference and publication in a peer-reviewed journal.

BACKGROUND: The present study was conducted to identify barriers and facilitators of early diagnosis and treatment of gastric cancer. METHODS: Comprehensive search was conducted on 2021 in various databases, including Medline, Web of science, and Scopus. Keywords such as gastric cancer, screening programs, endoscopy, barriers, facilitators, and factor were used for the search, as single or in combination. Also a manual search was done in valid scientific journals to find related full-text articles. The search results were entered into the Endonote-X8 software, which automatically removes duplicate articles. Then, the title and the abstract and finally, the text of the articles were studied. Articles that addressed barriers and facilitators of early diagnosis and treatment of gastric cancer were included. RESULTS: In according to the results of 22 included articles, delay time in the diagnosis and treatment of gastric cancer were high, and factors such as age, sex, race and ethnicity, economic and social status, access to diagnostic services, implementation of screening programs, type and accuracy of screening methods, use of insurance services, error in care services, and presence of gastrointestinal symptoms were considered to be contributing factors in this regard. CONCLUSIONS: It seems that to reduce delay in the diagnosis and treatment of gastric cancer, factors such as implementing screening programs using acceptable methods with high sensitivity and accuracy with a high level of participation, increasing insurance coverage and reducing the share of people in payments, increasing people's access to diagnostic services, educating people about the symptoms and risks of gastric cancer, undertaking proper follow-up in patients and suspects cases identified in screening, as well as increasing patients' access to medical services through financial and insurance support are significantly important.

PURPOSE: While calls have been made for exercise to become standard practice in oncology, barriers to implementation in real-world settings are not well described. This systematic scoping review aimed to comprehensively describe barriers impeding integration of exercise into routine oncology care within healthcare systems. METHODS: A systematic literature search was conducted across six electronic databases (since 2010) to identify barriers to implementing exercise into real-world settings. An ecological framework was used to classify barriers according to their respective level within the healthcare system. RESULTS: A total of 1,376 results were retrieved; 50 articles describing implementation barriers in real-world exercise oncology settings were reviewed. Two hundred and forty-three barriers were identified across all levels of the healthcare system. Nearly 40% of barriers existed at the organizational level (n = 93). Lack of structures to support exercise integration and absence of staff/resources to facilitate its delivery were the most common issues reported. Despite the frequency of barriers at the organizational level, organizational stakeholders were largely absent from the research. CONCLUSIONS: Implementing exercise into routine cancer care is hindered by a web of interrelated barriers across all levels of the healthcare system. Organizational barriers are central to most issues. Future work should take an interdisciplinary approach to explore best practices for overcoming implementation barriers, with organizations as a central focus. IMPLICATIONS FOR CANCER SURVIVORS: This blueprint of implementation barriers highlights critical issues that need to be overcome to ensure people with cancer have access to the therapeutic benefits of exercise during treatment and beyond.

Examining and addressing unmet care needs is integral to improving the provision and quality of cancer services. This review explored the prevalence of unmet supportive care needs, and factors associated with unmet need, in adults with advanced cancers (solid and hematological malignancies) and their caregivers. Electronic databases (PubMed, CINAHL, EMBASE) were searched, producing 85 papers representing 81 included studies. People with advanced cancer reported the highest unmet needs in financial, health system and information, psychological, and physical and daily living domains, whereas caregivers reported the highest unmet needs in psychological, and patient care and support domains. Distress, depression, and anxiety were associated with higher unmet needs across all unmet need domains for people with advanced cancer and their caregivers. Substantial heterogeneity in study populations and methods was observed. Findings from this review can inform targeted strategies and interventions to address these unmet needs in people with advanced cancer.

OBJECTIVE: Patients facing an advanced cancer diagnosis require clear communication with their clinicians. Technology has been utilized in many different capacities to navigate communication in cancer care, but few authors examine the specific areas of communication from a theoretical perspective. The purpose of this literature review was to (1) identify articles focused on technology-based communication strategies to improve health outcomes in individuals with advanced cancer, and (2) using Epstein and Street's framework, identify areas in which technology-based communication has been used to improve health outcomes, and (3) identify gaps that exist in technology-based communication care in patients with advanced cancer. METHODS: A systematic search was conducted which returned 446 articles. Using Epstein and Street's 2007 framework, the final sample was 39. RESULTS: Nine clinical trials, 29 observational studies, and 1 case study were identified. The articles were categorized into one area within Epstein and Street's areas of communication. Many of the articles examined the patient's and provider's acceptability and feasibility of technology-based methods of communication, while other articles examined their efficacy. CONCLUSIONS: While research studies were identified in each of the areas of communication, the majority of technology-based communication strategies were focused on the exchange of information between patients and their providers. Further research and the development of technology-based communication interventions assessed through clinical trials are needed in the areas of healing relationships and making decisions in cancer care. Additionally, the communication strategies found effective at improving health outcomes in advanced cancer should begin implementation into clinical practice, therefore reaching more patients.

PURPOSE: Although there are commonly accepted criteria of what defines quality of health care including cancer care, less is known about what defines quality of mHealth interventions in health care. The aim of this review was to identify how quality of mHealth interventions for cancer survivors is described and measured. METHODS: CINAHL, EmCare, JBI, Medline, SCOPUS, and ProQuest databases from January 2008 to January 2020 were searched. Review papers with search terms related to mobile devices, quality, and cancer relevant to adults with cancer were included. Interventions needed to consist of mHealth technologies, such as mobile applications or short message service, or wearable devices. Title and abstract screening, full-text screening, and data extraction were performed independently by two reviewers. Conflicts were resolved by a third reviewer. Reviews were evaluated for coverage of quality according to six metrics defined by the Institute of Medicine: patient-centeredness, equitability, safety, effectiveness, timeliness, and efficiency. Any additional quality items were recorded. A Measurement Tool to Assess systematic Reviews (AMSTAR) was used to rate the quality of the reviews included. RESULTS: The initial search yielded 766 papers with seven systematic reviews meeting the eligibility criteria. Four papers were of AMSTAR moderate quality, with three of low quality. The median number of quality metrics reported in a review was two (the range was 1-4). Efficacy and safety and timeliness and efficiency were most reported (n = 4), followed by usability (n = 3), equitability and access (n = 2), privacy and security (n = 2), and patient-centeredness (n = 2). CONCLUSION: There is great variability in how quality of mHealth interventions is defined with no reviews addressing all quality metrics. A comprehensive approach to measure quality of mHealth interventions is needed.

OBJECTIVES: To describe and examine the theories, components, and effectiveness of self-management support interventions for individuals experiencing cancer-related fatigue. METHODS: A systematic review was reported in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses 2020 Statement. CINAHL, PubMed, Cochrane CENTRAL, and EMBASE were searched (from inception to June 2021) for randomised controlled trials examining self-management support interventions for managing cancer-related fatigue. Data were screened, extracted, and appraised by two authors. Data extraction was guided by the Self-management Support Taxonomy (i.e., a modified version of the Practical Reviews in Self-Management Support Taxonomy tailored to cancer). The Revised Cochrane Risk of Bias tool was used for study appraisal. A critical narrative synthesis was conducted. RESULTS: Fifty-one papers representing 50 different studies (n = 7383) were identified. Most interventions were delivered post-treatment (40%) using in-person (i.e., 'face-to-face') encounters (40%), and were facilitated by health professionals (62%). A range of intervention approaches and self-management support strategies were used across studies. The average number of Self-management Support Taxonomy components used across studies was 6.1 (of 14). Thirty-one studies (62%) described a specific behavior change theory to guide their self-management support intervention development. Twenty-nine studies (n = 29/50; 58%) reported a positive intervention effect for fatigue immediately post-intervention. Of these 29 studies, 10 (34%) reported at least one sustained positive effect on fatigue over follow-up periods between two and 12 months. CONCLUSIONS: Self-management support that is delivered after cancer treatment, facilitated by health professionals, and incorporating at least one in-person contact appears to produce the most favourable fatigue and behavioral outcomes. However, further work is needed to better understand how individual self-management support strategies and the application of a behavioral theory influence behavior change. Program developers should guide self-management support with a behavioral theory, and describe their theory application in intervention development, implementation, and evaluation; ensure facilitators receive adequate support training; and seek the delivery preferences of cancer survivors. Future research should incorporate adequate follow-up to sufficiently evaluate the impact of programs on cancer-related fatigue and associated self-management behaviors. Findings from this review are relevant to all healthcare professionals, but are of most relevance to nurses as the largest cancer care workforce with a key role in delivering self-management support.

CONTEXT: Decision aids (DAs) aim to support patients in the process of shared decision-making for complex treatment decisions. To improve patient-centered care in uro-oncology, it is essential to evaluate the availability and quality of existing DAs. OBJECTIVE: To assess the quality of existing DAs for patients across the most prevalent uro-oncological entities. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: This study was conducted in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. A systematic literature search (MedLine, Cochrane Library, Web of Science Core Collection, and CCMed) was conducted to identify DAs for treatment decisions for patients with prostate, renal, or bladder cancer. All studies reporting on the development or evaluation of DAs were included. The DAs were examined based on the International Patient Decision Aid Standards (IPDAS) and the evaluation studies were compared in accordance with Standards for Universal reporting of a patient Decision Aid Evaluations (SUNDAE). EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS: The literature search identified 1995 potentially relevant publications. Thirty-two studies reporting on 25 DAs met the inclusion criteria. Twenty-two DAs address prostate cancer, two renal tumor, and one bladder cancer. In the majority of DAs (n = 20), patients can enter individual data. A few (n = 6) DAs allow for personalization using a risk-adapted presentation of treatment options. The percentage of IPDAS criteria met in DAs ranged between 50% and 100% (median 87.5%), and the studies' adherence to the SUNDAE checklist was between 62% and 96% (median 86.6%). Evaluation studies suggest that interventions are likely efficacious. However, a preliminary meta-analysis revealed no significant difference between "DA" and "usual care" for decisional conflict or decisional regret. CONCLUSIONS: This review highlights that a number of well-developed DAs exist in urology. However, there is a need for specific instruments targeting kidney and bladder cancer. Personalization of tools and adherence to international standards of DAs should be further improved. PATIENT SUMMARY: The majority of uro-oncological decision aids target prostate cancer, whereas fewer address kidney or bladder cancer. The quality of the existing instruments is high, but can be increased further to better address specific needs of individual patients.

BACKGROUND: Preparedness for caregiving could balance the negative impacts of caregiving. The interventions aimed at increasing readiness among the caregivers are important during the illness period for both patients and their caregivers. OBJECTIVES: The aims of this study were to review the interventions applied to the caregivers of cancer patients and to examine the effects of these interventions on the preparedness to care. METHODS: The ScienceDirect, Scopus, CENTRAL, Web of Science, MEDLINE, and PubMed were searched for relevant studies published between 2000 and 2020. The methodological quality was assessed using the Quality Assessment Tool for Quantitative Studies. The statistical analyses were performed using the Comprehensive Meta-Analysis software version 3.0. The publication bias was assessed using the Egger test, for funnel plots. RESULTS: Eleven studies were selected for the meta-analysis, including those about psychoeducation programs (n = 5), education programs (n = 3), supportive programs (n = 2), and a self-care support program for the caregivers (n = 1). The methodological quality assessment revealed 2 studies as "strong." The results indicated an increase in the caregivers' preparedness to care after the interventions. The subgroup analysis revealed that the programs with higher ratios of female caregivers were more effective. CONCLUSION: The interventions applied to the family caregivers can exert beneficial effects on caregivers' preparedness to care. Nonetheless, future studies should focus on methodological issues, such as randomization and blinding. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Nurse-driven interventions may be used as a useful strategy to improve the preparedness to care among the caregivers of cancer patients. The male caregivers should be closely followed by healthcare professionals for knowledge and support needs.

The extent to which individual and structural factors influence cancer patients' reports of their experiences are not yet well understood. We sought to identify which groups of patients consistently report poorer experiences and whether structural care factors might also be associated with better or worse reports. We conducted a systematic review of literature in PubMed and Web of Science with the date of last search as 27th of February 2022 following PRISMA guidelines. We focused on studies from three established population-based surveys datasets and instruments. After screening 303 references, 54 studies met the inclusion criteria. Overall, being from an ethnic minority group, having a more deprived socioeconomic status, poorer general or mental health status, being diagnosed with poor prognosis cancers, presenting to care through an emergency route, and having delayed treatment were consistently associated with poorer cancer care experiences. Conversely being diagnosed with earlier stage disease, perceiving communication as effective, positive patient-provider relationships, and receiving treatment with respect were overall associated with better reports of cancer care experiences. Improvement efforts aimed at delivering better experiences of patient-centred care need to take account much more explicitly patients' differing characteristics, prognoses, and trajectories they take through their care journeys.

BACKGROUND: Gynecologic cancers standard treatment often requires the removal of some reproductive organs, making fertility preservation a complex challenge. Despite heightened oncofertility awareness, knowledge about fertility attitudes and decisions of young patients with gynecologic cancer is scarce. The aim of this systematic review was to highlight what is currently known about knowledge, attitudes, and decisions about fertility, fertility preservation, and parenthood among these patients. METHODS: Peer-reviewed journals published in English were searched in PubMed, Web of Science and EMBASE from January 1, 2000 to July 1, 2020. Childbearing, fertility, fertility preservation, pregnancy, and parenthood attitudes/decisions after gynecologic cancer from women's perspective were evaluated. RESULTS: A total of 13 studies comprised the review. Most of the women valued fertility preservation procedures that could be regarded as a means to restore fertility. A unique feature identified was that fertility preservation was seen also as a way to restore gender identity perceived to be lost or threatened during diagnosis and treatment. Fertility counseling was suboptimal, with wide variability among studies reviewed. Comparisons between gynecologic cancers and other cancer types about fertility counseling rates were inconclusive. The potential negative impact of impaired fertility on patients' mental health and quality of life was also documented. CONCLUSIONS: Fertility and parenthood were important matters in patients' lives, with the majority of patients expressing positive attitudes toward future childbearing. Results confirm that the inclusion of patients with gynecologic cancer in research studies focusing on this topic still remains low. Additionally, the provision of fertility counseling and referral by health professionals is still suboptimal.

PURPOSE: This review summarizes and synthesizes the available empirical literature on the experiences concerned with the problems and challenges faced by caregivers of patients with pancreatic cancer. METHODS: An integrative review method was used, and a literature search was conducted using five databases. We searched the terms "pancreatic cancer," "caregiver," and "experience," and used the Boolean operators OR and AND to combine them. The Joanna Briggs Institute critical appraisal tools were used to assess the quality of the included studies. RESULTS: Four qualitative studies, one mixed method, and three quantitative studies met the selection criteria and were included in the review. Informal family caregivers of patients with pancreatic cancer experienced multifaceted roles, lack of information, difficulties in maintaining emotional well-being, and positive coping. The factors associated with their caring experience included the caregivers' demographics, patients' psychological status, and clinical characteristics. CONCLUSION: Caregivers of patients with pancreatic cancer have various experiences while providing care. Health care providers should offer opportunities for caregivers to recognize their feelings, provide sufficient information and psychological support, and foster coping strategies to maintain the physical and psychosocial well-being of caregivers.

Individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID) may require assistance in accessing healthcare services, including cancer screening. A better understanding of the factors affecting cancer screening utilisation among these individuals is needed for the development of strategies to promote screening uptake in them. This review aimed to explore the facilitators of and barriers to cancer screening utilisation among people with ID. A literature search was conducted using five databases, and an additional snowball search yielded 16 studies for inclusion in the review. Overall, the methodological quality of these studies was good (43-100%). In this review, we noted barriers to screening among individuals with ID, including perceptions of fear, distress, and embarrassment; unpreparedness for screening; negative interactions with healthcare professionals; a lack of knowledge about cancer screening; mobility issues; a high severity of ID; and a lack of ability to provide consent and communicate verbally. Facilitators to screening among these individuals were also identified, including living in a supervised setting, prior use of other healthcare services, being educated about screening via social media, having carers accompany them to screening appointments, and having dual insurance coverage or a higher income. Our review highlights the current needs of individuals with ID undergoing cancer screening. Strategies should be developed to address these needs, such as the provision of training to healthcare professionals on how to conduct screening for people with ID.

OBJECTIVE: Empowerment is critical for cancer patients to make informed choices, to manage medication, and to navigate through the oncological care system. Cancer peer support provides patients with information, emotional relief and may promote empowerment. This paper provides a systematic review of the literature examining the impact of cancer peer support interventions on psychological empowerment. METHODS: PubMed, Web of Science, CINAHL, Cochrane Library, PsycINFO and PSYNDEX databases were systematically searched from inception until December 2020. We included quantitative studies, published in English or German, which examined peer-led cancer support interventions and their impact on the three components of psychological empowerment (intrapersonal, interactional and behavioural) among participating cancer patients. RESULTS: Database searches and screening of relevant reference lists identified 2336 potentially relevant articles. A total of 29 studies were included in the review. Active coping, self-efficacy and knowledge were the most prominent dimensions of empowerment in these studies. The majority of studies revealed that peer support led to a small to medium, significant increase in psychological empowerment, and was associated with further patient-reported benefits. CONCLUSIONS: The existing evidence suggests a weak to moderate, positive association between cancer peer support and the three components of psychological empowerment among cancer patients. Peer support groups should be seen as an important element in cancer care and clinical practice and, thus, be more systematically involved in cancer care.

PURPOSE: To synthesise findings from published studies on barriers and facilitators to Black men accessing and utilising post-treatment psychosocial support after prostate cancer (CaP) treatment. METHODS: Searches of Medline, Embase, PsycInfo, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews and Central, CINAHL plus and Scopus were undertaken from inception to May 2021. English language studies involving Black men aged ≥18 and reporting experiences of, or suggestions for, psychosocial support after CaP treatment were included. Low or moderate quality studies were excluded. Searches identified 4,453 articles and following deduplication, 2,325 were screened for eligibility. Two independent reviewers carried out screening, quality appraisal and data extraction. Data were analysed using thematic synthesis. RESULTS: Ten qualitative studies involving 139 Black men were included. Data analysis identified four analytical constructs: experience of psychosocial support for dealing with treatment side effects (including impact on self-esteem and fear of recurrence); barriers to use of psychosocial support (such as perceptions of masculinity and stigma around sexual dysfunction); facilitators to use of psychosocial support (including the influence of others and self-motivation); and practical solutions for designing and delivering post-treatment psychosocial support (the need for trusted healthcare and cultural channels). CONCLUSIONS: Few intervention studies have focused on behaviours among Black CaP survivors, with existing research predominantly involving Caucasian men. There is a need for a collaborative approach to CaP care that recognises not only medical expertise but also the autonomy of Black men as experts of their illness experience, and the influence of cultural and social networks.

Artificial intelligence has aided in the advancement of healthcare research. The availability of open-source healthcare statistics has prompted researchers to create applications that aid cancer detection and prognosis. Deep learning and machine learning models provide a reliable, rapid, and effective solution to deal with such challenging diseases in these circumstances. PRISMA guidelines had been used to select the articles published on the web of science, EBSCO, and EMBASE between 2009 and 2021. In this study, we performed an efficient search and included the research articles that employed AI-based learning approaches for cancer prediction. A total of 185 papers are considered impactful for cancer prediction using conventional machine and deep learning-based classifications. In addition, the survey also deliberated the work done by the different researchers and highlighted the limitations of the existing literature, and performed the comparison using various parameters such as prediction rate, accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, dice score, detection rate, area undercover, precision, recall, and F1-score. Five investigations have been designed, and solutions to those were explored. Although multiple techniques recommended in the literature have achieved great prediction results, still cancer mortality has not been reduced. Thus, more extensive research to deal with the challenges in the area of cancer prediction is required.

BACKGROUND: Cancer can have various psychosocial effects on children and young adults. Technology-based psychosocial interventions are increasingly popular in paediatric oncology for psychosocial health. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of technology-based psychosocial interventions applied to children, adolescent and young adults undergoing cancer treatment. METHODS: Eight electronic databases including PubMed, Cochrane Library (including Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials [CENTRAL]), CINAHL Plus with Full Text, PsycINFO, MEDLINE, ProQuest, Science Direct and Scopus were searched to identify eligible randomised controlled trials from 1 January 2010 up to 9 April 2021. Search results were limited to 'children, adolescent and young adults' 6-24 years undergoing cancer treatment. Randomised controlled studies in which technology-based psychosocial interventions were applied were examined. Of 4,927 articles, 12 articles met the inclusion criteria. Hedges' g effect size was computed for each study. Effect sizes and moderator variables were tested using random-effects models. This study is registered with PROSPERO, number CRD42020177787. RESULTS: The outcomes were anger, anxiety, coping, depression, distress, quality of life and resilience. Compared with standard care, technology-based psychosocial interventions had a large effect and significantly on anger (g = -1.327, 95% CI: [-2.43, 0.22], anxiety (g = -0.89, 95%CI: [-1.34, -0.18], and depression (g = -1.05, 95% CI: [-1.65,-0.46]. Also, it was found that the duration of interventions had a significant moderator and effect size of the distress and resilience outcomes increased as the duration increased. CONCLUSION: This meta-analysis demonstrated that technology-based psychosocial interventions served as an effective intervention as it appears to have implications reducing anger, anxiety and depression in paediatric oncology. Nevertheless, randomised controlled studies with larger samples still needed to establish evidence-based psycho-oncological interventions for paediatric oncology. Future research should develop interventions more graduated by duration.

BACKGROUND: Upper gastrointestinal cancers are aggressive malignancies with poor prognosis, even following multimodality therapy. As such, they require timely and accurate diagnostic and surveillance strategies; however, such radiological workflows necessitate considerable expertise and resource to maintain. In order to lessen the workload upon already stretched health systems, there has been increasing focus on the development and use of artificial intelligence (AI)-centred diagnostic systems. This systematic review summarizes the clinical applicability and diagnostic performance of AI-centred systems in the diagnosis and surveillance of esophagogastric cancers. METHODS: A systematic review was performed using the MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Review, and Scopus databases. Articles on the use of AI and radiomics for the diagnosis and surveillance of patients with esophageal cancer were evaluated, and quality assessment of studies was performed using the QUADAS-2 tool. A meta-analysis was performed to assess the diagnostic accuracy of sequencing methodologies. RESULTS: Thirty-six studies that described the use of AI were included in the qualitative synthesis and six studies involving 1352 patients were included in the quantitative analysis. Of these six studies, four studies assessed the utility of AI in gastric cancer diagnosis, one study assessed its utility for diagnosing esophageal cancer, and one study assessed its utility for surveillance. The pooled sensitivity and specificity were 73.4% (64.6-80.7) and 89.7% (82.7-94.1), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: AI systems have shown promise in diagnosing and monitoring esophageal and gastric cancer, particularly when combined with existing diagnostic methods. Further work is needed to further develop systems of greater accuracy and greater consideration of the clinical workflows that they aim to integrate within.