Background: Previous studies showed that cancer significantly reduces the quality of life of patients. The purpose of this study was to analyze changes in the quality of life of women diagnosed with ovarian and breast cancer after surgical treatment followed by adjuvant cancer therapy. Methods: The study covered 220 women diagnosed with ovarian (n = 89) or breast cancer (n = 131) after surgical treatment followed by adjuvant cancer therapy (chemotherapy, radiotherapy, hormone therapy). The tools used to measure the patients’ quality of life were the standardized EORTC QLQ-C30 questionnaire, the QLQ-BR23 module for breast cancer and the QLQ-OV28 module for ovarian cancer. Results: The subjective assessment of the health and quality of life of the women was carried out using the EORTC QLQ-C30 questionnaire and the QLQ-OV28 and QLQ-BR23 modules. Women with breast cancer rated their health higher than women with ovarian cancer. The health assessment performed by the patients was not related to the type of cancer (p > 0.05). They experienced pain, dyspnea and weakness regardless of the cancer location. Moreover, women’s health status had a clinically significant impact on their family and social life, although no statistically significant differences were found between the two groups (p > 0.05). Whilst the patients with breast cancer rated their quality of life and health higher than the patients with ovarian cancer, the differences were not statistically significant (p > 0.05). Conclusions: Changes in the quality of life of women with breast and ovarian cancer concern the physical sphere, hobbies, fatigue/rest, pain, family and social spheres, and material conditions. It is necessary to support specialists at every stage of treatment of these patients, which may improve the results of the treatment and patients’ perception of health and quality of life.

(1) Background: Kidney transplantation is widely recognized as the most effective method of treating end-stage renal disease. Immunosuppressive therapy plays a pivotal role in the treatment of kidney transplant patients, encompassing all patients (except identical twins), and is administered from organ transplantation until the end of its function. The aim of this systematic review is to identify the evidence of the association between immunosuppressive therapy and nutritional status of patients following kidney transplantation. (2) Methods: This protocol has been designed in line with Preferred Items for Systematic Reviews (PRISMA-P). Our search encompasses several databases, including MEDLINE (via PubMed), EMBASE (Elsevier), Scopus and Web of Science. We intend to include observational studies (cross-sectional, case-control, and cohort designs), randomized controlled trials (RCTs), as well as completed and ongoing non-randomized study designs. We will confine our search to studies published in English within the past decade (from inception to 17 February 2023). Qualitative studies, case studies, and conference reports will be excluded. The selection process will be done in Covidence by two independent reviewers. Data extraction will be conducted using a standardized MS Excel template version 16.0. Quality assessment of included studies will be performed using the Cochrane Risk of Bias tool for randomized trials (RoB2), or the Risk of Bias in Non-randomized Studies of Interventions (ROBINS-I) tool. Risk-of-bias plots will be generated using the web application Robvis. Relevant data that have been extracted from eligible studies will be presented in a narrative synthesis. We expect the studies to be too heterogeneous to perform subgroup analyses. (3) Conclusion: This systematic review will offer insights into the evidence regarding association between immunosuppressive therapy and nutritional status of adult patients (18 years of age or older) within the initial year following kidney transplantation. To our knowledge, there is no systematic review addressing that question.

Marta Dąbrowska-Bender was not listed as co-corresponding author and co-first author in the original publication