Quality of life and unmet needs of late-stage and metastatic colorectal cancer survivors: An integrative review

PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION: The purpose of this review was to identify and synthesize the published literature on Quality of Life (QoL) and unmet needs of late-stage (American Joint Committee on Cancer [AJCC] III) and metastatic (AJCC IV) CRC survivors. LITERATURE SEARCH: Databases searched included PubMed, CINAHL, and Embase from 2010 to 2023. Articles were included if they focused on self-reported CRC experiences of late-stage and metastatic survivors, identifying 512 articles, of which five met the inclusion criteria. DATA EVALUATION/SYNTHESIS: Five studies were identified that examined QoL and unmet needs of CRC survivors. Three studies assessed only stage III and IV cases. Core factors that may impact QoL included younger age, emotional support from social circles, and psychological support during post-therapy periods. Unmet needs reported by CRC survivors included help managing distress and psychological support for fear of cancer progression. CONCLUSIONS: Limited research has explored unmet needs of late-stage and metastatic CRC survivors. Further research is needed to understand patient factors that impact QoL and unmet needs to support best care practices.