Quality Indicators for Renal Cancer Care: A Systematic Review

Background and objective: Quality indicators (QIs) are crucial for evaluating health care delivery, including effectiveness, safety, and patient-centered outcomes. In contrast to other fields, the definition and implementation of QIs for renal cell carcinoma (RCC) present distinct challenges and remain unmet needs. We summarized the available data on QIs for RCC, focusing on their characterization throughout the care pathway and the potential areas for further development. Methods: A systematic review of the English-language literature was conducted using the MEDLINE, Embase, and Cochrane databases from January 2000 to March 2025, according to the Prefe Key findings and limit rred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses ID: CRD42024511924). Quality assessment was evaluated accordIndicators through Research and Evaluation (AIRE) instrument. (including an overall n had alarge variation in of 50%onthe AIRE t of QIs washeterogene significantly across st lation explicitly. The guidelines (PROSPERO ing to the Appraisal of ations: Out of 58 948 potentially relevant papers, 12 sets of QIs umber of 86 distinct QIs) were identified from 12 studies. QI sets development strategy and quality. Only five studies scored a total ool across four domains. The process employed to develop the set ous across the included papers. The number of proposed QIs varied udies (range: 1–25). Only a few studies specified the target popuQIs addressed different stages of RCC care pathways: diagnosis