ABSTRACT
Background Melanoma is one of the most fatal skin cancers, with rising incidence and mortality worldwide. From diagnosis to treatment, patient experiences often involve anxiety, symptom burden, and limited access to information which profoundly impacts the quality of overall patient outcomes.
Objective This systematic review aims to identify and analyze major barriers melanoma patients face throughout their healthcare journey.
Methods Per PRISMA guidelines, studies were identified from PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Embase, and Cochrane Library, supplemented by manual hand-searching. Eligible studies focused on the experiences of melanoma patients within Western healthcare systems, addressed knowledge gaps and barriers to care throughout the patient journey, and were published in English between 2013 and 2023. Screening and extraction were conducted independently and in duplicate. Findings were synthesized based on identified themes. The methodological quality of the included studies was assessed using the GRADE criteria.
Results Out of 2,257 screened articles, 183 met the inclusion criteria. Studies were categorized into four major themes: intersectionality, treatment, diagnosis/prognosis, and patient/societal burden. Commonly explored subcategories included self-examination, risk factors, and drug efficacy. This focus was driven by the emergence of novel self-examination interventions and knowledge gaps regarding risk factors and prognosis, particularly in relation to newly introduced immune checkpoint inhibitors and targeted therapies.
Conclusions Melanoma patients experience significant gaps throughout their healthcare journey. Identifying areas of improvement in current practices is the first step toward developing targeted solutions that improve the patient experience and quality of life.
Competing Interest Statement
The authors have declared no competing interest.
Funding Statement
This study did not receive any funding
Author Declarations
I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained.
Yes
I confirm that all necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived, and that any patient/participant/sample identifiers included were not known to anyone (e.g., hospital staff, patients or participants themselves) outside the research group so cannot be used to identify individuals.
Yes
I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance).
Yes
I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines, such as any relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material, if applicable.
Yes
Data Availability
All data produced in the present study are available upon reasonable request to the authors
