Cancer-related fatigue—mechanisms, risk factors, and treatments
- Study type
- Review article
- Design
- Review article
- Source
- Nat Rev Clin Oncol · 2014
In plain words
Tiredness (fatigue) is one of the most common problems for people with cancer. It can even last for years after treatment ends and get in the way of daily life. Inflammation in the body seems to play an important part in causing it, and genetic, psychological, social and behavioural factors also affect who gets it. There is no single proven standard treatment, but physical activity, psychological and social support, mind–body approaches and some medicines have helped in trials. Talk to your own doctor about what suits you best.
Study population
This is a review article and no specific population was enrolled. The review focuses on recent longitudinal studies and randomised trials targeting patients with fatigue.
Endpoints
This is a review article and no primary or secondary endpoint is defined. The review describes the mechanisms, risk factors and possible interventions for cancer-related fatigue.
Safety and side effects
No data on adverse effects of the interventions are reported in the abstract.
Clinical significance and place in guidelines
According to the abstract, there is no gold-standard treatment for cancer-related fatigue, but a range of interventions (physical activity, psychosocial, mind–body and pharmacological) have been beneficial in randomised trials. The review provides a framework of mechanisms and risk factors. The status of clinical guideline recommendations should be checked separately.
Limitations
This is a narrative review, and its abstract does not describe how studies were searched for or selected. According to the abstract, there is no gold-standard treatment, and much of the variability in fatigue is not explained by disease or treatment characteristics.
This summary was prepared by the editorial team from the published paper; the original paper is the final reference. Read the original abstract on PubMed.