Extensive literature addresses the correlates of communication behaviors within couples in the specific stressful context of oncology. This literature focused mainly on the concepts of disclosure, concealment, holding back and protective buffering to gain more insight into the potential benefits of open communication on the psychological and relational wellbeing of the patient, the spouse and the dyad. The current systematic review aims to present this literature, summarize research findings and suggest empirical, theoretical and clinical implications. Methods: The search method applied in this review was in line with the PRISMA guidelines. Key words related to couples' communication and oncology were used to identify relevant studies according to title and abstract fields from 1.1.2000 until 31.1.22. Results: Out of 3277 papers, a total of 55 articles were identified as relevant for this review. These quantitative studies used cross-sectional and longitudinal designs. Overall, integrating findings from different studies showed that while avoiding communication is negatively associated with psychological and relational wellbeing, the benefits of disclosure seems to be dependent on different factors including the partner's responsiveness, contextual factors and personal characteristics. The existing literature is limited in providing data regarding the nature of adequate or helpful partner responses, the best timing, and the specific topics that are recommended to be disclosed such as specific fears. Most importantly, it is limited in heterogeneity of constructs of communication that were studied, scales that were used and diverse mediators and moderators that were examined. Accordingly, an effort to reach consensus of definition and assessment of communicative behavior is recommended for future studies, and addressing responsiveness to communicative initiations seems to be important for clinical practice.

大量文献探讨了在特定的肿瘤学压力背景下夫妻之间交流行为的相关性。该文献主要关注披露、隐藏、抑制和保护性缓冲的概念，以更深入地了解开放式沟通对患者、配偶和夫妻双方的心理和关系健康的潜在好处。目前的系统评价旨在介绍这些文献，总结研究结果并提出经验、理论和临床意义。方法：本次审查中使用的搜索方法符合 PRISMA 指南。2000 年 1 月 1 日至 22 年 1 月 31 日，根据标题和摘要字段，使用与夫妻交流和肿瘤学相关的关键词来识别相关研究。结果：在 3277 篇论文中，共有 55 篇文章被确定为与本次审查相关。这些定量研究使用横断面和纵向设计。总体而言，综合不同研究的结果表明，虽然避免沟通与心理和关系幸福感呈负相关，但披露的好处似乎取决于不同的因素，包括伴侣的反应能力、背景因素和个人特征。现有文献在提供有关充分或有帮助的合作伙伴反应的性质、最佳时机以及建议披露的特定主题（例如特定恐惧）方面的数据有限。最重要的是，所研究的交流结构的异质性受到限制，使用的量表以及检查的各种调解人和调解人。因此，建议在未来的研究中努力就交流行为的定义和评估达成共识，并且解决对交流开始的反应似乎对临床实践很重要。