Uncertainty is a critical outcome of cancer diagnosis, living with it, and surviving. A lack of comprehensive understanding of the experiences of uncertainty in this context exists. Hence, this review aimed to synthesise the research on survivors' firsthand experiences of uncertainty during the cancer illness trajectory. A meta-synthesis was conducted on the studies reporting experiences of uncertainty among persons with cancer. The adult participants from the included studies were either undergoing treatment or had completed the treatment. A systematic search of articles published from 2010 to 2025 was conducted in Scopus and PubMed. Further, PRISMA and CASP guided the study selection and quality assessment, respectively. We retained 24 out of 1236 reports. The narratives from each study were evaluated and coded to develop themes using Thomas and Harden's thematic synthesis. The synthesis revealed five analytical themes: medical uncertainty, fertility and sexual uncertainty, financial uncertainty, personal uncertainty, and coping with uncertainty throughout the course of cancer illness. The experiences of uncertainty surrounding cancer illness strain individuals' survivorship. Furthermore, uncertainty may disrupt the individuals' meaning-making processes, posing difficulties in bridging the gap between life before and after cancer. These pressing issues in cancer survivorship may be viewed as a profound barrier to personal growth, mental health, and well-being, highlighting the crucial role of psychosocial interventions.
Jadhav et al. (Tue,) studied this question.