Hazal Özdemir Koyu, Pediatric Oncology Nurse and Digital Health Researcher, shared on LinkedIn:
“Cancer treatment may have an end date.
The uncertainty it leaves behind often does not…
Working in paediatric oncology has continually reminded me that surviving cancer and finding a way forward after cancer are not the same experience.
For adolescent and young adult survivors of childhood cancer, questions about health, identity, relationships, independence, and the future may persist long after treatment ends. Yet access to sustained, developmentally appropriate psychosocial support remains far from guaranteed.
This is why I am particularly pleased to share our newly published systematic review and meta-analysis in Supportive Care in Cancer, the official journal of the The Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer (MASCC).
Together with my co-author, Assoc. Prof. Çiğdem Sarı Öztürk, we synthesised evidence from 10 randomised controlled trials involving 747 participants, examining the effectiveness of technology-based psychosocial interventions for adolescent and young adult survivors of childhood cancer.
Our findings demonstrated modest but statistically significant improvements in quality of life and reductions in anxiety, offering encouraging evidence for the potential of digital psychosocial support. However, less consistent findings for depression, distress, and emotional well-being also remind us how much remains to be understood.
For me, one message stands out: Innovation alone is not enough. We need evidence that interventions work, a better understanding of whom they benefit, and a commitment to making that support accessible.
More rigorous, theory-informed, and clinically meaningful research is needed to move digital innovations beyond promising possibilities and towards becoming effective, equitable, and sustainable components of survivorship care.
I hope our work makes a meaningful contribution to this growing body of evidence and encourages further research into the psychosocial needs of young cancer survivors.
My sincere thanks to my co-author, Dr. Çiğdem Sarı Öztürk, for her invaluable collaboration.
I would also like to express my appreciation to Professor Dr. Fred Ashbury, Editor-in-Chief of Supportive Care in Cancer, and the editorial team for their continued commitment to advancing high-quality scientific research and strengthening the evidence base in supportive oncology. Such leadership is invaluable to the ongoing development of our field.
Because helping young people survive cancer is an extraordinary achievement.
Helping them live well afterward deserves the same scientific commitment.”
Title: Efficacy of technology-based psychosocial interventions on quality of life and psychological outcomes in adolescent and young adult survivors of childhood cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
Authors: Hazal Ozdemir Koyu, Cigdem Sari Öztürk
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