Background: The high impact of a cancer diagnosis on patients and their families and the increasing costs of\ncancer treatment call for optimal and efficient oncological care. To improve the quality of care and to minimize\nhealthcare costs and its economic burden, many healthcare organizations introduce care pathways to improve\nefficiency across the continuum of cancer care. However, there is limited research on the effects of cancer care\npathways in different settings.\nMethods: The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis described in this protocol is to synthesize existing\nliterature on the effects of oncological care pathways. We will conduct a systematic search strategy to identify all\nrelevant literature in several biomedical databases, including Cochrane library, MEDLINE, Embase, and CINAHL. We\nwill follow the methodology of Cochrane Effective Practice and Organisation of Care (EPOC), and we will include\nrandomized trials, non-randomized trials, controlled before-after studies, and interrupted time series studies. In\naddition, we will include full economic evaluations (cost-effectiveness analyses, cost-utility analyses, and costbenefit\nanalyses), cost analyses, and comparative resource utilization studies, if available. Two reviewers will\nindependently screen all studies and evaluate those included for risk of bias. From these studies, we will\nextract data regarding patient, professional, and health systems outcomes. Our systematic review will follow\nthe PRISMA set of items for reporting in systematic reviews and meta-analyses.\nDiscussion: Following the protocol outlined in this article, we aim to identify, assess, and synthesize all\navailable evidence in order to provide an evidence base on the effects of oncological care pathways as\nreported in the literature.
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