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Abstract Background The unmet post-treatment needs and issues of cancer survivors for follow-up care are still significant, matching appropriate and acceptable follow-up care to cancer survivors’ preferences, may increase adherence of survivors to health programs and quality of life. There is a knowledge gap about how cancer survivors measured their choices between different aspects of follow-up care. As discrete choice experiments (DCE) have been widely used in patient preference elicitation, we reviewed DCE on follow-up care for cancer survivors. Methods The electronic databases PubMed, The Cochrane Library, Embase, and Web of Science were searched, up to October 06, 2024. Original studies reporting preferences of cancer survivors for follow-up care elicited by DCE were eligible. Findings were presented using a narrative synthesis. Using two validated checklists to evaluate the quality of the included DCE studies. Results A total of 3525 records were identified and 9 papers were included. The studies were conducted in the Netherlands, Australia, the United Kingdom (UK) and China with 123 to 722 participants evaluated preferences of cancer survivors for follow-up care. Most of included cancer survivors were after completed the main treatment. Several key attributes for cancer survivors’ follow-up care were identified including healthcare provider, services offered, frequency of visits, contact mode, familiarity of healthcare provider with patients’ medical history/continuity of care. Conclusions The systematic review focusing on preferences of cancer survivors follow-up care and attributes identified in these studies, the results may inform healthcare providers should take cancer survivors preferences into account.

BackgroundPromoting reflection about death may support better living, and how to carry out death education is an important issue to be addressed across the world. The purpose of the current study was to explore the attitude of heart transplant recipients toward death and their inner real experience to provide information for the development of death education strategies.MethodsA phenomenological qualitative study was conducted using a snowball method. A total of 11 patients who had undergone heart transplantation more than 1-year ago were recruited for the current study for semi-structured interviews.ResultsA total of five themes were identified: “Not avoid talking about death,” “Feeling fear about the pain in the process of death”, “Wanting a good death at the end of life,” “The richness of feelings during near-death is surprising,” and “Being close to death makes people more receptive to death.”ConclusionHeart transplant recipients have a positive attitude toward death and wish for “good death” at the end of life. These patients' near-death experiences and positive attitudes toward death during the course of their illness provided evidence of the need for death education in China and supported the experiential approach to death education.

Abstract Background The aging population coupled with progressive medical technology has increased the demand for improved quality of end-of-life in China. However, implementation of an advance care planning (ACP) program in mainland China is still in its infancy owing to the significant influence of filial piety in Chinese culture. Research on implementation of ACP program among community health workers (CHWs) is limited. The current study sought to explore the willingness of CHWs to implement ACP based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and provide a reference for promotion of ACP in Chinese communities. Methods Phenomenological qualitative study using semi-structured face-to-face interviews. Interviews were audio-recorded. Colaizzi’s method was used for data analysis. The study received ethical approval and all participants provided written consent. Results Thirteen CHWs from 3 community health service centers (CHSCs) in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China were interviewed. Through the analysis of the interview content, we determined that most CHWs have a supportive attitude towards the implementation of ACP, the reasons for which are as follows: relieve suffering of patients and respect their medical autonomy; relieve economic and psychological burden on family members; promote development of community palliative care. However, some CHWs believe that the implementation of ACP will lead to doctor-patient disputes and medical risks. CHWs reported that the support of patients and their families, community lawyers, psychosocial professionals, and CHSCs senior managers helped them to implement ACP. In addition, they indicated that the improvement of doctor-patient communication ability, the improvement of community medical environment, the support of government policy, and the training of CHWs were the promoting factors influencing their implementation of ACP. The hindrance factors include insufficient allocation of community health human resources, imperfect ACP legislation in China, and deep-rooted traditional culture. Conclusion Findings demonstrated that Chinese CHWs tend to support the implementation of ACP, but their willingness to implement is affected by different factors. CHSCs should actively organize standardized ACP training and comprehensively consider community medical environment, organizational norms, and human resources in implementation of ACP.

Ovarian leiomyoma accounts only for 0.5–1% of all benign ovarian tumors, and almost no preoperative diagnosis has been achieved. Commonly, these tumors are small in size and asymptomatic. However, they can become symptomatic as their size increases; thus, it is important to recognize this entity and differentiate them from ovarian malignant tumors. Radical surgeries with total hysterectomy and salpingo-oophorectomy are usually performed. However, ovary-preserving surgery has been suggested to young women, especially those desiring fertility in the future. In this study, we shared seven cases of primary ovarian leiomyomas and one inherent ligament leiomyoma, reviewed related articles to provide some new information about leiomyoma of the ovary, and discussed their proper surgical management.

Recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL), especially the unexplained RPL, is associated with the disruption of maternal immune tolerance. However, little is known about the immune status at the decidua of RPL with embryonic chromosomal aberrations. Herein, mass cytometry (CyTOF) was used to interrogate the immune atlas at the decidua which was obtained from 15 RPL women—six with normal chromosome and nine with chromosomal aberrations—and five controls. The total frequency of CCR2−CD11chigh macrophages increased, while CD39high NK cells and CCR2−CD11clow macrophages decrease significantly in RPL when RPLs were stratified, compared with controls. Pro-inflammatory subsets of CD11chigh macrophages increased, while less pro-inflammatory or suppressive subsets decreased statistically in RPL decidua whenever RPLs were stratified or not. However, CD11chigh NK and CD161highCD8+ T cells increased only in RPL with normal chromosome, while the inactivated and naive CD8+/CD4+ T cells were enriched only in RPL with chromosomal aberrations. A pro-inflammatory signature is observed in RPL decidua; however, differences exist between RPL with and without chromosomal abnormalities.