Joshua Budhu, Neuro-Oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, shared a post on LinkedIn:
“Excited to share our new paper, ‘Patient navigation in neuro-oncology: A scoping review of programs supporting patients with CNS tumors’ now published in Equity Neuroscience!
Patients with primary CNS tumors and brain metastases face unique challenges throughout their care, including complex care coordination, cognitive and functional limitations, psychosocial distress, and financial hardship.
In this scoping review, we identified 22 studies of patient navigation programs in neuro-oncology. Programs addressed a broad range of needs, including:
- Care coordination and transitions
- Patient and caregiver education
- Psychosocial support
- Financial navigation
- Access to clinical trials and supportive services
The findings are encouraging, with studies reporting improvements in patient experience, emotional well-being, care coordination, and access to services, as well as reductions in acute care utilization and financial burden in some programs.
At the same time, the evidence base remains limited. Only 7 of the 22 studies were full peer-reviewed articles, highlighting the need for more rigorous studies, standardized outcomes, and sustainable approaches to implementation.
We hope this review helps provide a foundation for developing and evaluating patient navigation interventions tailored to the complex needs of patients with CNS tumors and their caregivers.
Congratulations and thank you to Steven Shafeek and our entire team for their work on this project!”
Title: Patient navigation in neuro-oncology: A scoping review of programs supporting patients with CNS tumors
Authors: Steven Shafeek, Kevin Placide, Cleopatra Elshiekh, Anna Druker, Liana Wu, Antonuos Ishak, Johanna Goldberg, Francesca M. Gany, and Joshua A. Budhu.
You can also read: Angela Mastronuzzi։ Call for Papers is Now Open For Special Series on Pediatric CNS Tumors in 2026
