Fatigue persists after chemotherapy in breast cancer patients

September 11, 2007

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - In the 6 months following completion of chemotherapy, women with early-stage breast cancer display greater fatigue than women without a history of cancer, new research shows. The results also suggest that radiotherapy alone has relatively little impact on fatigue.

As reported in the September 10th online issue of Cancer, Dr. Paul B. Jacobsen, from the Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute in Tampa, Florida, and colleagues used a standard scoring system to assess fatigue in 221 breast cancer patients and 221 controls.

The patients included 100 treated with chemotherapy and radiotherapy and 121 who received radiotherapy only. Fatigue was evaluated immediately after treatment completion as well as 2, 4, and 6 months later.

The authors found that patients displayed significantly greater fatigue at all four assessments than did controls, although the difference decreased with time. Moreover, fatigue that was potentially clinically relevant was more apparent in the patients.

Further analysis showed that combination therapy, not radiotherapy alone, was the primary driver of elevated fatigue levels in the breast cancer group.

"Findings from the current study suggest that future research should focus on breast cancer patients experiencing heightened fatigue during adjuvant chemotherapy and explore whether interventions administered during or at the end of treatment are effective in preventing or limiting fatigue in the post-treatment period," the authors state.