Extended reality interventions for cognitive and psychosocial rehabilitation in patients with cancer: an integrative review

People living with and beyond cancer frequently experience cognitive and psychosocial difficulties, yet structured rehabilitation remains limited. Extended reality offers immersive and adaptable tools that may help address these supportive care needs.

To synthesise evidence on extended reality interventions for cognitive and psychosocial rehabilitation in cancer care.

An integrative review was conducted using Whittemore and Knafl's framework. Literature published between 2014 and 2025 was identified through searches of major electronic databases and manual reference screening. Study quality was appraised using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool, and findings were synthesised thematically.

A total of 14 studies met the inclusion criteria. Two primary functional domains emerged: cognitive rehabilitation, including improvements in attention, executive function and psychosocial rehabilitation, including reductions in anxiety, depression, fatigue and improvements in quality of life. Across studies, extended reality interventions-predominantly virtual reality-were generally feasible, well accepted and associated with high engagement and minimal adverse effects, although methodological heterogeneity remained substantial.

Extended reality, particularly virtual reality, shows promise as a feasible and acceptable approach to supporting cognitive and psychosocial rehabilitation in cancer care.

Extended reality, particularly virtual reality, may be considered as a complementary approach to support cognitive and psychosocial rehabilitation in people living with and beyond cancer. Clinicians may consider integrating extended reality into supportive cancer care while recognising that further high-quality evidence is needed to inform routine clinical implementation.