Appendix 1. CENTRAL search strategy

#1 MeSH descriptor Neoplasms explode all trees
#2 malignan* or neoplasm* or cancer or carcinoma* or tumo*
#3 (#1 OR #2)
#4 MeSH descriptor Music explode all trees
#5 MeSH descriptor Music Therapy explode all trees
#6 music* or melod*
#7 sing or sings or singing or song* or compose or composing or improvis*
#8 (#4 OR #5 OR #6 OR #7)
#9 (#3 AND #8)

Appendix 2. MEDLINE search strategy (OvidSp)

1 exp neoplasms/
2 (malignan* or neoplas* or cancer* or carcinoma* or tumo*).mp.
3 1 or 2
4 music/ or music therapy/
5 (sing or sings or singing or song* or improvis*).mp.
6 (music* or melod*).mp.
7 4 or 5 or 6
8 3 and 7
9 randomized controlled trial.pt.
10 controlled clinical trial.pt.
11 randomized.ab.
12 placebo.ab.
13 clinical trials as topic.sh.
14 randomly.ab.
15 trial.ti.
16 9 or 10 or 11 or 12 or 13 or 14 or 15
17 8 and 16

key: mp=title, abstract, original title, name of substance word, subject heading word, keyword heading word, protocol supplementary concept, rare disease supplementary concept, unique identifier; pt=publication type; ab=abstract; ti=title

Appendix 3. Embase search strategy (OvidSp)

1 exp neoplasm/
2 (malignan* or neoplasm* or cancer* or carcinom* or tumo*).mp.
3 1 or 2
4 music therapy/ or music/
5 (sing or sings or singing or song* or improvis*).mp.
6 (music* or melod*).mp.
7 4 or 5 or 6
8 3 and 7
9 crossover procedure/
10 double‐blind procedure/
11 randomized controlled trial/
12 single‐blind procedure/
13 random*.mp.
14 factorial*.mp.
15 (crossover* or cross over* or cross‐over*).mp.
16 placebo*.mp.
17 (double* adj blind*).mp.
18 (singl* adj blind*).mp.
19 assign*.mp.
20 allocat*.mp.
21 volunteer*.mp.
22 9 or 10 or 11 or 12 or 13 or 14 or 15 or 16 or 17 or 18 or 19 or 20 or 21
23 8 and 22

key: [mp=title, abstract, subject headings, heading word, drug trade name, original title, device manufacturer, drug manufacturer, device trade name, keyword]                                                              

Appendix 4. CINAHL search strategy (EbscoHost)

S22 S21 and S7 and S4
S21 S20 or S19 or S18 or S17 or S16 or S15 or S14 or S13 or S12 or S11 or S10 or S9 or S8
S20 TI ( (singl* or doubl* or treb* or tripl*) ) and TI ( (blind* or mask*) )
S19 AB ( (singl* or doubl* or treb* or tripl*) ) and AB ( (blind* or mask*) )
S18 Randomized controlled trials/
S17 evaluation studies/
S16 comparative study/
S15 prospective studies/
S14 clinical trial/
S13 study design/
S12 AB ( (control$ or prospectiv$ or volunteer$) ) or TI ( (control$ or prospectiv$ or volunteer$) )
S11 AB random$ or TI random$
S10 AB placebo$ or TI placebo$
S9 placebos/
S8 AB (clin$ N25 trial$) or TI (clin$ N25 trial$)
S7 S5 OR S6
S6 TX (malignan$ or neoplasm$ or cancer or carcinoma$ or tumo$)
S5 neoplasms/
S4 S3 OR S2 OR S1
S3 TX (music$ OR melod$ OR sing OR singing OR sings OR song$ OR improvis$)
S2 music therapy/
S1 music/

Appendix 5. PsycInfo search strategy (OvidSp)

1 exp Neoplasms/
2 (malignan$ or neoplasm$ or cancer or carcinoma$ or tumo$).tw.
3 1 or 2
4 music/ or music therapy/
5 (music$ or melod$).tw.
6 (sing or sings or singing or song$ or improvis$).tw.
7 or/4‐6
8 3 and 7
9 empirical study.md.
10 followup study.md.
11 longitudinal study.md.
12 prospective study.md.
13 quantitative study.md.
14 "2000".md.
15 treatment effectiveness evaluation/
16 exp hypothesis testing/
17 repeated measures/
18 exp experimental design/
19 placebo$.ti,ab.
20 random$.ti,ab.
21 (clin$ adj25 trial$).ti,ab.
22 ((singl$ or doubl$ or trebl$ or tripl$) adj (blind$ or mask$)).ti,ab.
23 or/9‐22
24 8 and 23
25 limit 24 to human

Appendix 6. LILACS search strategy (Virtual Health Library)

((music$)) and ((((malignan$ or neoplasm$ or cancer or carcinoma$ or tumo$)) or (("cancer"))))

Appendix 7. Social Science Citation Index search strategy (ISI)

#1 Topic=(music*)
#2 TopiC= (music therapy)
#3 Topic=(singing or sings or song* or improvis* or melod*)
#4 #1 OR #2 OR #3
#5 Topic=(neoplasm*)
#6 Topic=(malignan* or neoplasm* or cancer or carcinoma* or tumo*)
#7 #5 OR #6
#8 Topic=(random allocation)
#9 Topic=(controlled clinical trial*)
#10 Topic=(randomized controlled trial*)
#11Topic=(double blind method*)
#12 Topic=(single blind method*)
#13 Topic=(clinical trial*)
#14 Topic=(placebo*)
#15 Topic=(random*)
#16 #8 OR #9 OR #10 OR #11 OR #12 OR #13 OR #14 OR #15
#17 #4 AND #7 AND # 16

Appendix 8. CancerLit search strategy

music OR (music therapy)

Appendix 9. CAIRSS search strategy

Cancer OR neoplasm OR neoplasms
Malignant OR carcinoma OR carcinomas
Tumor OR tumour

Appendix 10. Proquest Digital Dissertations search strategy (Proquest)

Music and (cancer or tumor or malignant or neoplasm)

Appendix 11. clinicaltrials.gov search strategy

music OR "music therapy"

Appendix 12. Current Controlled Trials search strategy

music OR "music therapy"

Appendix 13. National Research Register search strategy

music

Appendix 14. RILM Abstracts of Music Literature search strategy (EbscoHost)

Cancer or tumor or malignant or neoplasm

Appendix 15. Study Selection, Quality Assessment & Data Extraction Form

Review: Music interventions for improving psychological and physical outcomes in cancer patients

Name Coder:        

Date:                                                           

Paper Code:    

Other references to trial

If there are further references to this trial, link the papers now & list below. All references to a trial should be linked under one Study ID in RevMan (main paper should be [number]A; other publications related  to the same trial should be [same number]B)

 Study eligibility

Participants and trial characteristics

Methodological quality

_{Low risk: (1) central randomization, (2) serially numbered opaque envelopes, (3) other descriptions with convincing concealment}

_{High risk: (1) alternation methods, (2) other manners in which allocation was not adequately concealed}

_{Unclear risk: authors did not adequately report on method of concealment used}

Appendix 16. Original search strategies

MEDLINE search strategy (OvidSp)

1 exp Neoplasms/
2 (malignan$ or neoplasm$ or cancer or carcinoma$ or tumo$).tw.
3 1 or 2
4 music/ or music therapy/
5 (sing or sings or singing or song$ or improvis$).tw.
6 (music$ or melod$).tw.
7 or/4‐6
8 Randomized Controlled Trials/
9 random allocation/
10 Controlled Clinical Trials/
11 control groups/
12 clinical trials/
13 double‐blind method/
14 single‐blind method/
15 Placebos/
16 placebo effect/
17 cross‐over studies/
18 Multicenter Studies/
19 Therapies, Investigational/
20 Research Design/
21 Program Evaluation/
22 evaluation studies/
23 randomized controlled trial.pt.
24 controlled clinical trial.pt.
25 clinical trial.pt.
26 multicenter study.pt.
27 evaluation studies.pt.
28 random$.tw.
29 (controlled adj5 (trial$ or stud$)).tw.
30 (clinical$ adj5 trial$).tw.
31 ((control or treatment or experiment$ or intervention) adj5 (group$ or subject$ or patient$)).tw.
32 (quasi‐random$ or quasi random$ or pseudo‐random$ or pseudo random$).tw.
33 ((multicenter or multicentre or therapeutic) adj5 (trial$ or stud$)).tw.
34 ((control or experiment$ or conservative) adj5 (treatment or therapy or procedure or manage$)).tw.
35 ((singl$ or doubl$ or tripl$ or trebl$) adj5 (blind$ or mask$)).tw.
36 (coin adj5 (flip or flipped or toss$)).tw.
37 latin square.tw.
38 (cross‐over or cross over or crossover).tw.
39 placebo$.tw.
40 sham.tw.
41 (assign$ or alternate or allocat$ or counterbalance$ or multiple baseline).tw.
42 controls.tw.
43 (treatment$ adj6 order).tw.
44 or/8‐43
45 3 and 7 and 44
46 limit 45 to humans

Embase search strategy (OvidSp)

1 exp Neoplasm/
2 (malignan* or neoplasm* or cancer or carcinom* or tumo*).mp. [mp = title, abstract, subject headings, heading word, drug trade name, original title, device manufacturer, drug manufacturer name]
3 1 or 2
4 exp music therapy/ or exp music/
5 (music* or melod*).mp. [mp = title, abstract, subject headings, heading word, drug trade name, original title, device manufacturer, drug manufacturer name]
6 (sing or sings or singing or song* or compose or composing or improvis*).mp. [mp = title, abstract, subject headings, heading word, drug trade name, original title, device manufacturer, drug manufacturer name]
7 6 or 4 or 5
8 Randomized Controlled Trial/
9 Randomization/
10 exp Controlled Clinical Trial/
11 Control Group/
12 Clinical Trial/
13 Double Blind Procedure/
14 Single Blind Procedure/
15 Placebo/
16 Crossover Procedure/
17 Multicenter Study/
18 Experimental Therapy/
19 Methodology/
20 exp Health Care Quality/
21 exp Evaluation/
22 random*.mp. [mp = title, abstract, subject headings, heading word, drug trade name, original title, device manufacturer, drug manufacturer name]
23 (controlled adj5 (trial* or stud*)).mp. [mp = title, abstract, subject headings, heading word, drug trade name, original title, device manufacturer, drug manufacturer name]
24 (clinical* adj5 trial*).mp. [mp = title, abstract, subject headings, heading word, drug trade name, original title, device manufacturer, drug manufacturer name]
25 ((control or treatment or experiment* or intervention) adj5 (group* or subject* or patient*)).mp. [mp = title, abstract, subject headings, heading word, drug trade name, original title, device manufacturer, drug manufacturer name]
26 (quasi‐random* or quasi random* or pseudo‐random* or pseudo random*).mp. [mp = title, abstract, subject headings, heading word, drug trade name, original title, device manufacturer, drug manufacturer name]
27 ((multicenter or multicentre or therapeutic) adj5 (trial* or stud*)).mp. [mp = title, abstract, subject headings, heading word, drug trade name, original title, device manufacturer, drug manufacturer name]
28 ((control or experiment* or conservative) adj5 (treatment or therapy or procedure or manage*)).mp. [mp = title, abstract, subject headings, heading word, drug trade name, original title, device manufacturer, drug manufacturer name]
29 ((single* or double* or tripl* or trebl*) adj5 (blind* or mask*)).mp. [mp = title, abstract, subject headings, heading word, drug trade name, original title, device manufacturer, drug manufacturer name]
30 (coin adj5 (flip or flipped or toss*)).mp. [mp = title, abstract, subject headings, heading word, drug trade name, original title, device manufacturer, drug manufacturer name]
31 latin square.mp. [mp = title, abstract, subject headings, heading word, drug trade name, original title, device manufacturer, drug manufacturer name]
32 (cross‐over or cross over or crossover).mp. [mp = title, abstract, subject headings, heading word, drug trade name, original title, device manufacturer, drug manufacturer name]
33 placebo*.mp. [mp = title, abstract, subject headings, heading word, drug trade name, original title, device manufacturer, drug manufacturer name]
34 sham.mp. [mp = title, abstract, subject headings, heading word, drug trade name, original title, device manufacturer, drug manufacturer name]
35 (assign* or alternate or allocat* or counterbalance* or multiple baseline).mp. [mp = title, abstract, subject headings, heading word, drug trade name, original title, device manufacturer, drug manufacturer name]
36 controls.mp. [mp = title, abstract, subject headings, heading word, drug trade name, original title, device manufacturer, drug manufacturer name]
37 (treatment* adj6 order).mp. [mp = title, abstract, subject headings, heading word, drug trade name, original title, device manufacturer, drug manufacturer name]
38 35 or 33 or 32 or 11 or 21 or 26 or 17 or 22 or 18 or 30 or 23 or 16 or 13 or 29 or 27 or 25 or 28 or 36 or 9 or 12 or 14 or 15 or 20 or 8 or 34 or 37 or 24 or 10 or 19 or 31
39 38 and 3 and 7
40 39

CancerLit Search Strategy (CancerLit was searched in the original review but is no longer available)

music OR (music therapy)

Musictherapyworld.de (was searched in the original review but is no longer functional)

The site's research register, dissertation archive, and bibliography were searched in 2008 for the following terms:
cancer or tumor or tumour or malignant or neoplasm or neoplasms or carcinoma or carcinomas