Table of contents
Cancer-associated fatigue
What's new
Updated 2024 ASCO/SIO guidelines for the management of cancer-associated fatigue.
Background
Overview
Definition
Cancer-associated fatigue is a distressing, persistent, subjective sense of physical, emotional, and/or cognitive tiredness or exhaustion associated with cancer and/or cancer treatment, which is non-proportional to recent activity and interferes with usual functioning.
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Pathophysiology
Cancer-associated fatigue is multifactorial and involves medical factors (comorbidities, medications, nutritional disorders), psychosocial factors (mood disturbance), behavioral factors (physical deconditioning), and biological factors (anemia, cytokine dysregulation, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis dysregulation, 5-HT neurotransmitter dysregulation, and alterations in ATP and muscle metabolism).
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Disease course
Cancer-associated fatigue and exhaustion is often accompanied by pain, mood changes, sleep disturbances, lack of appetite, decreased activity, and reduced QoL and performance.
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Prognosis and risk of recurrence
Cancer-associated fatigue is associated with increased all-cause mortality in patients with solid tumors.
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Guidelines
Key sources
The following summarized guidelines for the evaluation and management of cancer-associated fatigue are prepared by our editorial team based on guidelines from the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO 2024,2014), the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA 2022), and the Canadian Association of Psychosocial Oncology (CAPO 2017).
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Screening and diagnosis
Indications for screening
As per ASCO 2014 guidelines:
Obtain routine screening for the presence of fatigue in patients with cancer from the point of diagnosis onward, including after completion of primary treatment.
E
Screen all patients for fatigue as clinically indicated and at least annually.
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Choice of screening tool
Diagnostic investigations
Clinical assessment
As per APTA 2022 guidelines:
Use the following tools for the assessment of cancer-associated fatigue in patients with cancer:
functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Fatigue
revised Piper Fatigue Scale
patient Reported Outcome Measurement Information System Fatigue-Short Forms v1.0-Fatigue (4a, 6a, 7a, 7b, 8a, 13a)
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Consider using the following tools for the assessment of cancer-associated fatigue in patients with cancer:
brief Fatigue Inventory
cancer Fatigue Scale
multidimensional Fatigue Inventory 20
fatigue Symptom Inventory
patient Reported Outcome Measurement Information System Bank v1.0-Fatigue Computerized Adaptive Testing
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Laboratory evaluation
Medical management
General principles: as per ASCO 2024 guidelines, insufficient evidence to recommend for or against collaborative care intervention or protocolized patient-tailored treatment for symptoms of cancer-related fatigue in adult patients with advanced cancer or at the end of life.
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Eugeroics
Psychostimulants
Antidepressants
Corticosteroids
Minocycline
Assessment of treatment response
Nonpharmacologic interventions
Physical activity
As per ASCO 2024 guidelines:
Offer supervised or unsupervised exercise (aerobic, resistance, or a combination), tailored to the individual patient's abilities, to reduce the severity of fatigue in adult patients undergoing or having completed cancer treatment.
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Insufficient evidence to recommend for or against exercise for symptoms of cancer-related fatigue in adult patients with advanced cancer or at the end of life.
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Psychosocial interventions
Alternative treatments
Dietary supplements
Patient education
Follow-up and surveillance
Indications for specialist referral
As per CAPO 2017 guidelines:
Promote access to multicomponent, group psychoeducation programs targeted to self-management techniques.
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Offer referral to experts or fatigue clinics experienced in CBT targeted to fatigue in patients and survivors with chronic cancer-related fatigue.
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