Symptom Map of Endocrine Therapy for Breast Cancer: A Scoping Review.

The review included only published studies in English and Chinese and excluded unpublished work, so some symptom reports may be missing. It focused on quantitative studies, so it did not capture what symptoms meant to women. The included studies differed widely in design, symptom instruments, recall periods, definitions, and participant characteristics, so the reported ranges cannot be compared as if they came from one uniform sample. Most studies were cross-sectional, and longitudinal follow-up stopped at 24 months, while endocrine therapy is often recommended for 5 to 10 years, so symptom timing and change over time remain unclear. Many high-occurrence symptoms were reported by only one or two studies, so their apparent frequency needs confirmation. Intensity and distress were reported for far fewer symptoms than occurrence, so the review cannot show how bothersome most symptoms are. The review did not test interventions or determine causes; it mapped reported symptoms.

Do not read the symptom lists as proof that endocrine therapy caused these symptoms or that any treatment will relieve them. This scoping review only mapped what studies reported, and many high-occurrence symptoms came from one or two studies.