Is the fatigue an adverse event of the second generation of hormonal therapy? Data from a literature-based meta-analysis

New hormonal therapies have enriched the therapeutic armamentarium for patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). Fatigue is one of the most common adverse events registered in phase III trials of these new drugs. The aim of this article is to perform a meta-analysis based on all available literature data focused on the risk rate (RR) of fatigue from new hormonal agent-based therapy in patients with CRPC. A total of 11,751 cases were included from 11 randomized trials. The analysis revealed that the second generation of hormonal therapies increased the RR of any-grade fatigue (RR = 1.27) and grade 3-4 fatigue (RR = 1.25). This last adverse event was always higher in a pre-chemotherapy setting. In conclusion, given the limitations of a literature-based study, rather than a meta-analysis based on individual patients' data, our study confirmed the increase in the RR for any-grade and grade 3-4 fatigue during the second generation of hormonal therapies, with particular attention being paid to grade 3-4 in the pre-chemotherapy setting of the disease.

Medical oncology (Northwood, London, England). 2018 Jan 31*** epublish ***

Giandomenico Roviello, Daniele Generali

Division of Medical Oncology, Department of Onco-Hematology, IRCCS-CROB, Referral Cancer Center of Basilicata, Via Padre Pio 1, 85028, Rionero in Vulture, PZ, Italy. ., Department of Medical, Surgery and Health Sciences, University of Trieste, Piazza Ospitale 1, 34129, Trieste, Italy.