Protocol for a scoping umbrella review of social drivers of health and cancer outcomes

Background: It is widely recognized that social factors impact cancer incidence, prognosis, treatment, and survival outcomes. Relationships between specific social drivers of health (SDoH) and cancer outcomes have been reported in numerous reviews. The goal of this review is to provide a comprehensive summary to identify gaps, inform interventions, and guide policy development to improve cancer outcomes by addressing SDoH.Methods: We will include review articles exploring various SDoH and cancer outcomes. The following electronic databases will be searched for relevant reviews: Cochrane Library, Epistemonikos, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science. We will summarize reviews by SDoH categories (e.g. neighborhood and environment), cancer outcomes, and review types in tabular form using a narrative synthesis.Results: This protocol was submitted before data collection. Database searches, screening, and data extraction will commence in accordance with the published protocol. Findings will be expected by Fall of 2027.Discussion: This scoping umbrella review will summarize reviews of SDoH and cancer outcomes to better inform prevention and control of cancer disparities. More specifically, the findings of this review will support cancer researchers, healthcare providers, stakeholders, as well as policy makers in identifying ways to measure, track, and influence the SDoH related to cancer outcomes.