Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Jun 18;15(6):e089780.
doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2024-089780.

Global therapeutic mobilities and cancer: a scoping review

Clémence Schantz  1   2   3 , Sarah Boisson  4   2 , Léa Prost-Lançon  5 , Emmanuel Bonnet  6 , Aurélien Dancoisne  7 , Myriam Baron  5 , Audrey Bochaton  8 ; SENOVIE Group
Collaborators, Affiliations

Global therapeutic mobilities and cancer: a scoping review

Clémence Schantz et al. BMJ Open. .

Abstract

Introduction: Research on therapeutic mobility is abundant but the field of cancer has not yet been investigated thoroughly. This scoping review aims to examine the existing evidence on global therapeutic mobility and cancer, providing a comprehensive overview of the subject.

Methods: We conducted a scoping review and followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses methodological guidelines. We developed a comprehensive search strategy and discussed it with the research team. We searched for peer-reviewed papers on Medline, Embase, ERIC and American Psychological Association via the Dialogue interface and Google Scholar and CAIRN bibliographic database for peer-reviewed articles. We also included grey literature, such as unpublished work and relevant reports from Érudit. We considered studies that employed quantitative or qualitative methods.

Results: Among the 1615 references initially selected, 767 duplicates were excluded. Then, 849 studies were screened on title and abstract and 800 were excluded as they did not meet inclusion criteria. 49 studies were fully screened and 21 were excluded as they did not meet inclusion criteria based on full-text assessment. Ultimately, 28 references were included in the data synthesis. This scoping review has shown that publications on therapeutic mobilities have multiplied in recent years, with a turning point in 2019. A range of academic disciplines and research methodologies are currently employed to describe them. A significant proportion of fieldwork is concentrated in Asia, Africa, Europe and North America. Despite the heterogeneity of the approaches and fields, there are certain common features that emerge: first, the decision to migrate for healthcare is primarily made by the patient themselves and is perceived by them as being non-choice; second, the family plays a central role at all stages of the migration; and third, the migration has a catastrophic impact in terms of social and financial burden.

Conclusion: In conclusion, this scoping review highlights the underexplored relationship between global therapeutic mobility and cancer, emphasising the need for increased research efforts to understand the global dynamics of cancer care mobility.

Keywords: Health; Health Services; Health Services Accessibility; ONCOLOGY; Systematic Review.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: All authors have no competing interest to declare. The funder did not influence the results/outcomes of the study despite author affiliations with the funder (for the French Collaborative Institute on Migration for CS and SB).

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Flowchart.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Countries mentioned in articles included in the scoping review. Sources: World Bank (2023); SENOVIE Research Project (2025).
Figure 3
Figure 3. Directions of therapeutic mobilities. Sources: World Bank (2023); SENOVIE Research Project (2025).
Figure 4
Figure 4. Concentration of scientific publications on global therapeutic mobility and cancer. Sources: World Bank (2023); SENOVIE Research Project (2025)
Figure 5
Figure 5. Conceptual framework—therapeutic mobility: key drivers, difficult pathways and the power of family support.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Whittaker A, Manderson L, Cartwright E. Patients without borders: understanding medical travel. Med Anthropol. 2010;29:336–43. doi: 10.1080/01459740.2010.501318. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Kangas B. Traveling for medical care in a global world. Med Anthropol. 2010;29:344–62. doi: 10.1080/01459740.2010.501315. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Lunt N, Horsfall D, Hanefeld J. Medical tourism: A snapshot of evidence on treatment abroad. Maturitas. 2016;88:37–44. doi: 10.1016/j.maturitas.2016.03.001. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Ormond M, Lunt N. Transnational medical travel: patient mobility, shifting health system entitlements and attachments. J Ethn Migr Stud. 2020;46:4179–92. doi: 10.1080/1369183X.2019.1597465. - DOI
    1. Bell D, Holliday R, Ormond M, et al. Transnational healthcare, cross-border perspectives. Soc Sci Med. 2015;124:284–9. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.11.014. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources