Trial reportJournal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology2013
Methylphenidate and/or a nursing telephone intervention for fatigue in patients with advanced cancer: a randomized, placebo-controlled, phase II trial.
Trial report in Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04525924 (Feasibility Study of Adjunctive Bright Light Therapy), which is not on this map. Cited by 51 papers, 9 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Feasibility Study of Adjunctive Bright Light Therapy (BLT) for Amelioration of Fatigue in Chinese Cancer Patients Admitted to a Palliative Care Unit
Who cites it
51 citing papers in PubMed, 9 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 116 citations in OpenAlex.
- Management of Fatigue in Adult Survivors of Cancer: ASCO-Society for Integrative Oncology Guideline Update.Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology · 2024Guideline
- The influence of telehealth-based cancer rehabilitation interventions on disability: a systematic review.Journal of cancer survivorship : research and practice · 2023Pooled it
- The efficacy of placebo for the treatment of cancer-related fatigue: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2020Pooled it
- Are the MORECare guidelines on reporting of attrition in palliative care research populations appropriate? A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials.BMC palliative care · 2020Pooled it
- Pharmacologic interventions for fatigue in cancer and transplantation: a meta-analysis.Current oncology (Toronto, Ont.) · 2018Pooled it
- Psychosocial interventions for fatigue during cancer treatment with palliative intent.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2017Pooled it
- Populations and Interventions for Palliative and End-of-Life Care: A Systematic Review.Journal of palliative medicine · 2016Pooled it
- Death in the Digital Age: A Systematic Review of Information and Communication Technologies in End-of-Life Care.Journal of palliative medicine · 2016Pooled it
- Cancer-Related Fatigue, Version 2.2015.Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network : JNCCN · 2015Guideline
- Managing fatigue with methylphenidate and physical activity during cancer immunotherapy treatment.Palliative & supportive care · 2025Trial
- Methylphenidate versus placebo for fatigue in patients with advanced cancer: the MePFAC randomised controlled trial.Health technology assessment (Winchester, England) · 2025Trial
- Randomized Controlled Trial of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Fatigue Interference With Functioning in Metastatic Breast Cancer.Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology · 2025Trial
- Methylphenidate Versus Placebo for Treating Fatigue in Patients With Advanced Cancer: Randomized, Double-Blind, Multicenter, Placebo-Controlled Trial.Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology · 2024Trial
- Open-Label Placebo for the Treatment of Cancer-Related Fatigue in Patients with Advanced Cancer: A Randomized Controlled Trial.The oncologist · 2022Trial
- Impact of Adjunct Testosterone on Cancer-Related Fatigue: An Ancillary Analysis from a Controlled Randomized Trial.Current oncology (Toronto, Ont.) · 2022Trial
- Hospital Intervention to Reduce Overweight with Educational Reinforcement after Discharge: A Multicenter Randomized Clinical Trial.Nutrients · 2022Trial
- Fixed-Dose Netupitant and Palonosetron for Chronic Nausea in Cancer Patients: A Double-Blind, Placebo Run-in Pilot Randomized Clinical Trial.Journal of pain and symptom management · 2021Trial
- Open-label placebo reduces fatigue in cancer survivors: a randomized trial.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2019Trial
- Docetaxel-related fatigue in men with metastatic prostate cancer: a descriptive analysis.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2017Trial
- Effect of dance on cancer-related fatigue and quality of life.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2014Trial
Corrections and comments
- Commented on by
Authors and funding
8 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
purposeCancer-related-fatigue (CRF) is common in advanced cancer. The primary objective of the study was to compare the effects of methylphenidate (MP) with those of placebo (PL) on CRF as measured using the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Fatigue (FACIT-F) fatigue subscale. The effect of a combined intervention including MP plus a nursing telephone intervention (NTI) was also assessed. PATIENTS AND
methodsPatients with advanced cancer with a fatigue score of ≥ 4 out of 10 on the Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale (ESAS) were randomly assigned to one of the following four groups: MP+NTI, PL+NTI, MP + control telephone intervention (CTI), and PL+CTI. Methylphenidate dose was 5 mg every 2 hours as needed up to 20 mg per day. The primary end point was the median difference in FACIT-F fatigue at day 15. Secondary outcomes included anxiety, depression, and sleep.
resultsOne hundred forty-one patients were evaluable. Median FACIT-F fatigue scores improved from baseline to day 15 in all groups: MP+NTI (median score, 4.5; P = .005), PL+NTI (median score, 8.0; P < .001), MP+CTI (median score, 7.0; P = .004), and PL+CTI (median score, 5.0; P = .03). However, there were no significant differences in the median improvement in FACIT-F fatigue between the MP and PL groups (5.5 v 6.0, respectively; P = .69) and among all four groups (P = .16). Fatigue (P < .001), nausea (P = .01), depression (P = .02), anxiety (P = .01), drowsiness (P < .001), appetite (P = .009), sleep (P < .001), and feeling of well-being (P < .001), as measured by the ESAS, significantly improved in patients who received NTI. Grade ≥ 3 adverse events did not differ between MP and PL (40 of 93 patients v 29 of 97 patients, respectively; P = .06).
conclusionMP and NTI alone or combined were not superior to placebo in improving CRF.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.