Quality of life (QoL) and psychological distress represent an important aspect of the daily life of cancer patients. The aim of this systematic review was to critically analyze available literature regarding QoL and psychological distress in patients with small renal masses (SRMs). (2) Methods: A systematic search of EMBASE, PUBMED and American Psychological Association (APA-net) was performed on 30 April 2022. Studies were considered eligible if they included patients with SRMs, had a prospective or retrospective design, included at least 10 patients, were published in the last 20 years, and assessed the QoL or psychological distress in patients that underwent active surveillance (AS) in comparison to those that underwent ablation/surgery treatments. (3) Results: The patients that underwent AS were statistically significantly older, with smaller renal masses than those that underwent surgery/ablation. A study showed a significant reduction in total scores of Short Form-12 (SF-12) among AS patients when compared to partial nephrectomy (PN) patients at enrollment (95.0 ± 15.8 vs. 99.1 ± 13.9), 2 years (91.0 ± 16.4 vs. 100.3 ± 14.3), and at 3 years (92.9 ± 15.9 vs. 100.3 ± 14.3), p < 0.05, respectively. That was mainly due to lower physical health scores. On the other hand, another study showed that AS patients with a biopsy-proven malignant tumor had a worse psychological distress sub-score (PDSS) compared to patients treated with surgery/ablation after biopsy. (4) Conclusions: It seems that there is an influence on QoL and psychological distress while on AS of SMRs. However, due to the low amount of available data, the impact of AS or active treatment on QoL or psychological distress of patients with small renal masses warrants further investigation.
Journal of clinical medicine. 2022 Jul 07*** epublish ***
Liliana Vartolomei, Andrei Cotruș, Camelia Stanciu, Cristian Delcea, Marco Tozzi, Elena Lievore, Felice Crocetto, Francesco Del Giudice, Giuseppe Lucarelli, Matteo Muto, Matteo Ferro
I.O.S.U.D., George Emil Palade University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Sciences and Technology from Târgu Mureș, 540139 Târgu Mureș, Romania., Department of Psychology, Dimitrie Cantemir University, 540545 Târgu Mureș, Romania., Department of Psychology, Tibiscus University, 300559 Timisoara, Romania., Department of Urology, European Institute of Oncology, IRCCS, 20141 Milan, Italy., Department of Neurosciences, Human Reproduction and Odontostomatology, University of Naples Federico II, 80126 Naples, Italy., Department of Maternal Infant and Urologic Sciences, 'Sapienza' University of Rome, 00161 Rome, Italy., Andrology & Kidney Transplantation Unit, Department of Emergency & Organ Transplantation-Urology, University of Bari, 70121 Bari, Italy., Department of Onco-Hematological Diseases, U.O.C. Radiotherapy-Azienda Ospedaliera San Giuseppe Moscati-(AV), 83100 Avellino, Italy.