Post Cancer Fatigue Common Associated with High Rates of Disability

Cort

Founder of Health Rising and Phoenix Rising
Staff member
Another trigger for "ME/CFS"? - Prominent fatigue is present in about a third of post-cancer patients and is associated with greatly increased risks of disability plus get this - fatigue was much more common in breast and colorectal cancer survivors than prostate cancer survivors - suggesting perhaps (?) female predominance...just as in ME/CFS/FM


J Cancer Surviv. 2015 Apr 16. [Epub ahead of print] Cancer-related fatigue and associated disability in post-treatment cancer survivors.
Jones JM1, Olson K, Catton P, Catton CN, Fleshner NE, Krzyzanowska MK, McCready DR, Wong RK, Jiang H, Howell D.
PURPOSE:

Cancer-related fatigue (CRF) is the most prevalent and distressing symptom among cancer patients and survivors. However, research on its prevalence and related disability in the post-treatment survivorship period remains limited. We sought to describe the occurrence of CRF within three time points in the post-treatment survivorship trajectory.
METHODS:

A self-administered mail-based questionnaire which included the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Fatigue (FACT-F) and the World Health Organisation Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0 was sent to three cohorts of disease-free breast, prostate or colorectal cancer survivors (6-18 months; 2-3 years; and 5-6 years post-treatment). Clinical information was extracted from chart review. Frequencies of significant fatigue by diagnostic group and time cohorts were studied and compared. Multivariate logistic regressions were conducted to examine the associations between CRF and demographic, clinical, and psychosocial variables.
RESULTS:

One thousand two hundred ninety-four questionnaire packages were returned (63 % response rate). A total of 29 % (95 % CI [27 % to 32 %]) of the sample reported significant fatigue (FACT-F ≤34), and this was associated with much higher levels of disability (p < 0.0001). Breast (40 % [35 % to 44 %]) and colorectal (33 % [27 % to 38 %]) cancer survivors had significantly higher rates of fatigue compared with the prostate group (17 % [14 % to 21 %]) (p < 0.0001). Fatigue levels did not differ between the three time cohorts. The main factors associated with CRF included physical symptom burden, depression, and co-morbidity (AUC, 0.919 [0.903 to 0.936]).
CONCLUSIONS:

Clinically relevant levels of CRF are present in approximately 1/3 of cancer survivors up to 6 years post-treatment, and this is associated with high levels of disability.
IMPLICATIONS FOR CANCER SURVIVORS:

Clinicians need to be aware of the chronicity of CRF and assess for it routinely in medical practice. While there is no gold standard treatment, non-pharmacological interventions with established efficacy can reduce its severity and possibly minimize its disabling impact on patient functioning. Attention must be paid to the co-occurrence and need for possible treatment of depression and other co-occurring physical symptoms as contributing factors.
 

San Diego

Well-Known Member
The female predominance? Well, clearly it’s because our uteri become vexed and wander throughout the body, blocking respiratory channels and causing bizarre behavior. :D (sarcasm) The cure in the 1600’s ?

Physicians prescribed all kinds of treatments for a wayward womb. These included sweet-smelling vaginal suppositories and fumigations used to ‘tempt’ the uterus back to its rightful place. Women were also forced to ingest disgusting substances—sometimes containing repulsive ingredients such as human or animal excrement—in order to force the womb away from the lungs and heart. For the single woman suffering from hysteria, the cure was simple: marriage, followed by children.

Today’s exercise “treatments", while quite damaging in ME/CFS, look tame in comparison!

The good news is that true, pathological fatigue is being considered in a wide range of illnesses, which can only help us. Cancer research has big money - they might just be the ones to crack a major part of this case.
 

Who Me?

Well-Known Member
@sdsu. Did you ever see the movie with Maggie Gyllanhall 'Hysteria'

It's about the doctor who invented the vibrator while "manually" treating hysterical women. It's a riot!
 

San Diego

Well-Known Member
@sdsu. Did you ever see the movie with Maggie Gyllanhall 'Hysteria'

It's about the doctor who invented the vibrator while "manually" treating hysterical women. It's a riot!
I didn’t even know about it lol.

What I find particularly ludicrous is that in each generation, doctors think they have discovered and know everything. And they are repeatedly proven wrong. Sigh.
 

Jenni

New Member
I noticed significantly increased fatigue in the months before I was diagnosed with uterine cancer. Thankfully they got it all in one shot with a hysterectomy, and I went back to my normal levels of fatigue after a few months of recovery. I'm back to sleeping 8 to 12-hours a day now.
 

Cort

Founder of Health Rising and Phoenix Rising
Staff member
The female predominance? Well, clearly it’s because our uteri become vexed and wander throughout the body, blocking respiratory channels and causing bizarre behavior. :D (sarcasm) The cure in the 1600’s ?



Today’s exercise “treatments", while quite damaging in ME/CFS, look tame in comparison!

The good news is that true, pathological fatigue is being considered in a wide range of illnesses, which can only help us. Cancer research has big money - they might just be the ones to crack a major part of this case.
A "wayward womb!" - I'd never heard of that :)
 

Cort

Founder of Health Rising and Phoenix Rising
Staff member
I noticed significantly increased fatigue in the months before I was diagnosed with uterine cancer. Thankfully they got it all in one shot with a hysterectomy, and I went back to my normal levels of fatigue after a few months of recovery. I'm back to sleeping 8 to 12-hours a day now.
Another gynecological issue! (Have you taken the poll?) Glad the surgery was successful.
 

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