Mapping advanced and metastatic cancer survivorship research in Australia: a systematic scoping review

To map advanced and metastatic cancer survivorship research in Australia and characterize studies according to the priority research themes outlined by the US National Cancer Institute (NCI).

Systematic scoping review. MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Embase and CINAHL were searched from inception to December 2024 for cancer survivorship studies conducted in Australia, with studies reporting data for people with advanced or metastatic cancer classified using NCI's priority research themes.

We identified 483 studies, of which 72 (14.9%) recruited and reported data for participants with advanced or metastatic cancer, focusing on: psychosocial research (51.4%); healthcare delivery (16.7%); health behaviors (12.5%); symptom management (11.1%); and epidemiology and surveillance (8.3%). Most were conducted within individual Australian states (72.2%) and involved multiple cancer types (41.7%). Study designs included qualitative (44.4%), cross-sectional (34.7%), cohort (16.7%), case-control (1.4%), case report (1.4%) and mixed methods (1.4%). Forty-two tumor-specific studies were identified including breast (33.3%), hematological (21.4%); prostate (11.9%); bowel/colorectal (11.9%), gynecological (9.5%), melanoma (7.1%), head and neck (2.4%), and lung (2.4%) cancers. Nearly a quarter of studies recruited participants via cancer registries (22.2%).

Few cancer survivorship studies included people with advanced or metastatic cancer in Australia. We offer six recommendations to support funders, clinicians, policymakers, and researchers to improve representation of advanced or metastatic cancer survivors in survivorship research programs. Similar efforts in other countries are needed.

Increasing numbers of people are living long-term with advanced or metastatic cancer. The purposeful inclusion of these people in cancer survivorship research and care programs will improve health outcomes.