Long-term cancer-related fatigue outcomes in patients with locally advanced prostate cancer after intensity-modulated radiotherapy combined with hormonal therapy

The aim of our study was to investigate the relationship between cancer-related fatigue and clinical parameters, and the effect factors of fatigue for the prostate cancer patients. Long-term follow-up is performed using the Fatigue Symptom Inventory before treatment (A), at the end of intensity-modulated radiotherapy (B), and 3 months (C), 12 months (D), 24 months (E), 36 months (F), and 48 months (G) after the end of intensity-modulated radiotherapy. Three dimensions of fatigue are assessed during follow-up: severity, perceived interference with quality of life, and duration in the past week. In all, 97 patients with locally advanced prostate cancer were enrolled in the study. Median follow-up time was 43.9 months. The fatigue index was significantly higher in the prostate-specific antigen >20 ng/mL, Gleason score >8, the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group scores, and the higher education. The most severe fatigue occurred at time points B and C. The score for duration of fatigue fluctuated across the time points, with significantly increased scores at time points D, E, and F.In conclusion, we show that cancer-related fatigue is the important symptom which affects the quality of life for the prostate cancer patients. For patients with locally advanced prostate cancer with a high Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group score, a Gleason score of >8 points, prostate-specific antigen levels of >20 ng/mL, and high education, attention should be paid to the interference of fatigue with quality of life, especially general level of activity, ability to concentrate, and mood, after radiotherapy combined with hormonal therapy.

Medicine. 2016 Jun [Epub]

Hua-Chun Luo, Yong Lei, Hui-Hua Cheng, Zhi-Chao Fu, Shao-Guang Liao, Jing Feng, Qin Yin, Qun-Hua Chen, Gui-Shan Lin, Jin-Feng Zhu, Jian-Feng Xu, Dian Wang

aDepartment of Radiation Oncology, FuZhou General Hospital of NanJing Command PLA, FuZhou bDepartment of Medical, FuZhou General Hospital of NanJing Command PLA, FuZhou cDepartment of Mendicine, LongYan Hospital of Tradiational Chinese Medicine, LongYang dDepartment of Radiation Oncology, FuJian Province Hospital, FuZhou eDepartment of Rrology, JinJiang Hospital, QuanZhou, China fDepartment of Radiation Oncology, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL.