The literature was searched using MEDLINE (OVID: 1980 through October 2005), EMBASE (OVID: 1980 through October 2005), the Cochrane Library (OVID: Issue 3, 2005), the Canadian Medical Association Infobase, and the National Guideline Clearinghouse. In addition, the proceedings of the meetings of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (1999-2005), and the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (1999-2003) were searched for relevant abstracts. Reference lists of papers that were eligible for inclusion in the systematic review were scanned for additional citations.
The literature search of the electronic databases combined disease specific terms (uterine neoplasms/ or cervical neoplasms/ or endometrial neoplasms/ or (cervix or endometrium or endometrial and cancer or carcinoma)) and (surveillance.ti. or follow$.ti.or strategy.ti. or routine.ti.) for the following study designs: practice guidelines, systematic reviews, meta-analyses, randomized controlled trials, non-randomized comparative cohort studies, prospective single-cohort studies, and retrospective single-cohort studies.
Study Selection Criteria
Articles were selected for inclusion in the evidence series if they reported data on follow-up strategies for patients who had received curative treatment for endometrial cancer and who were clinically disease-free at study point. Specifically, studies were to describe the follow-up program, define the entry criteria for the study population, and report outcome data on survival, the number of recurrences found during screening, or on patient preferences. Case reports, letters, editorials, and papers published in a language other than English were not considered for inclusion in the systematic review of the evidence.
In the absence of randomized controlled trials, in order of preference, comparative cohort studies, prospective single-cohort studies, and retrospective single-cohort studies were deemed eligible for inclusion. Practice guidelines, meta-analyses, or systematic reviews explicitly based on evidence related to the guideline question were also eligible for inclusion in the systematic review.