ReviewCancers2024
Virtual Reality to Improve the Psychological and Physical Well-Being in Cancer Patients: An Umbrella Review.
Review in Cancers, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT07755501 (Effects of Virtual Reality in Lung Cancer Patients Undergoing Immunotherapy and Chemo-immunotherapy), which is not on this map. Cited by 4 papers.
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.
Effects of Virtual Reality in Lung Cancer Patients Undergoing Immunotherapy and Chemo-immunotherapy
Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- A scoping review of virtual reality technology utilization in patients with colorectal cancer.BMC nursing · 2026Article
- Cost-Effectiveness of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation and Virtual Reality-Based Cognitive Remediation for Depressive Symptoms among Cancer Patients: Protocol for a Three-Arm Randomized Controlled Trial.Clinical practice and epidemiology in mental health : CP & EMH · 2026Article
- Assessing safety and feasibility of virtual reality intervention in patients with lung cancer: a pilot study.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2025Article
- The role of satisfaction with care among factors affecting health-related quality of life in people with cancer: a cross-sectional study.Frontiers in oncology · 2025Article
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.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
BACKGROUND/
objectivesCancer patients often experience psychological and physical symptoms that can significantly impact their quality of life and treatment outcomes. Virtual reality (VR) has emerged as a promising complementary approach to standard cancer care. Due to the rapidly evolving nature of VR research in oncology, it seems essential to provide an overview of the current state of knowledge in this field. Therefore, this umbrella review aimed to synthesize evidence from all relevant systematic reviews and meta-analyses on VR-based interventions for improving psychological and physical well-being among cancer patients.
methodsA comprehensive search was conducted in four databases (Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Medline, Web of Science, PsycInfo) from inception to August 2023. We included systematic reviews with or without meta-analyses that evaluated the effects of VR-based interventions on any health-related outcomes in cancer patients. The methodological quality of included reviews was assessed using the AMSTAR-2 (A MeaSurement Tool to Assess systematic Reviews) tool.
resultsEighteen individual systematic reviews including ten performed meta-analyses were included, with sample sizes ranging from 225 to 842 participants. VR-based interventions were categorized into three main types: distraction, rehabilitation, and education. The interventions varied significantly in terms of content, equipment, setting, and duration. The most frequent use of VR is one-off exposure in hospital settings to distract patients from anticancer treatment and painful procedures, with natural or game-based content. The mechanism most commonly proposed to explain the effectiveness of VR involves attentional redirection.
conclusionsThis umbrella review suggests that VR-based interventions may be effective in improving psychological outcomes in cancer patients, particularly anxiety, pain, and depression. However, high heterogeneity across studies and mixed results for some outcomes indicate a need for further high-quality research. Moreover, a more refined analysis of VR-based interventions is essential to explore the specific mechanisms of action associated with each type. This approach would enable us to establish the optimal characteristics of each intervention and their long-term effects.
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What Socratic holds
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 Socratic graph.