Cancer fatigue: the way forward

Research in cancer-related fatigue lags far behind research in cancer-related pain and is astonishingly underdeveloped given the magnitude of the problem among cancer patients. This was recently recognized at the State-of-the-Science Conference on Symptom Management in Cancer: Pain, Depression, and Fatigue, held at the U.S. National Institutes of Health in July 2002. The results of patient surveys on fatigue being conducted in Ireland by the All Ireland Fatigue Coalition (AIFC) closely mirror results from similar surveys conducted in the U.S., in some regards, with 53% of patients experiencing significant fatigue at least daily, and 80% at least monthly on both sides of the Atlantic. In other respects, such as duration of bouts of fatigue, how much and with whom patients discuss their fatigue symptoms, and economic impacts of fatigue, there are significant differences between survey findings in the U.S. and in Ireland. But in both places, the condition is underreported and undertreated and takes an enormous toll. Work by the AIFC to document the problem in Ireland, expand public awareness, and conduct research on which to base guidelines for diagnosis and treatment is an excellent beginning to tackling this long understudied condition that afflicts the overwhelming majority of cancer patients.