SynthesisJournal of adolescent and young adult oncology2015
Teenage and Young Adult Cancer-Related Fatigue Is Prevalent, Distressing, and Neglected: It Is Time to Intervene. A Systematic Literature Review and Narrative Synthesis.
Synthesis in Journal of adolescent and young adult oncology, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 35 papers, 2 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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
35 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 101 citations in OpenAlex.
- Exercise to Manage Fatigue During and After Chemotherapy in Adolescents and Young Adults With Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Oncology nursing forum · 2025Pooled it
- Severe fatigue after treatment for childhood cancer.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2020Pooled it
- Trial
- Improving Symptom Management for Survivors of Young Adult Cancer: Development of a Novel Intervention.Journal of adolescent and young adult oncology · 2023Trial
- A pilot study of the effect of a home-based multimodal symptom-management program in children and adolescents undergoing chemotherapy.Cancer reports (Hoboken, N.J.) · 2021Trial
- Trial
- Trial
- Fatigue after pediatric bone sarcoma: prevalence and associated factors in pediatric and adult patients and survivors after treatment.Journal of cancer survivorship : research and practice · 2026Article
- Symptom burden in cancer survivorship: insights from a survivorship program's patient-reported outcomes database.Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation · 2026Article
- Observational
- Prevalence and correlates of short and long sleep duration among majority-Hispanic young adult survivors of childhood cancer.Journal of cancer survivorship : research and practice · 2025Article
- "It's like going through life at a mediocre level": a qualitative study of the meaning and impact of fatigue in children and young people with sickle cell disease.BMC pediatrics · 2025Article
- Cancer Symptom Clusters in Children and Adolescents with Cancer Undergoing Chemotherapy: A Systematic Review.Nursing reports (Pavia, Italy) · 2025Review
- Experiences Using Nonpharmacological Interventions for Chronic Fatigue: A Focus Group Study of Long-Term Survivors of Young Adult Cancers With Fatigue.Cancer reports (Hoboken, N.J.) · 2024Article
- Multilevel Social Determinants of Patient-Reported Outcomes in Young Survivors of Childhood Cancer.Cancers · 2024Article
- Observational
- Specialty Palliative Care and Symptom Severity and Control in Adolescents and Young Adults With Cancer.JAMA network open · 2023Article
- Early life cancer and chemotherapy lead to cognitive deficits related to alterations in microglial-associated gene expression in prefrontal cortex.Brain, behavior, and immunity · 2023Article
- Prevalence, severity, and predictors of symptom burden among adolescents and young adults with cancer.Cancer medicine · 2023Article
- Physical Activity as a Treatment for Cancer-Related Fatigue in Children, Adolescents and Young Adults: A Systematic Review.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeCancer-related fatigue in adults has been the subject of considerable recent research, confirming its importance as a common and debilitating symptom, and establishing a number of evidence-based interventions. There has, however, been limited focus on the fatigue suffered by teenagers and young adults with cancer, a group recognized as having unique experiences and developmental needs. We have undertaken a systematic review of the literature to provide a comprehensive overview of studies evaluating fatigue in this younger patient group in order to guide clinical practice and future research.
methodWe searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, and CINAHL databases for literature containing data relating to any aspect of fatigue in patients aged 13-24 at cancer diagnosis or treatment.
resultsSixty articles were identified, of which five described interventional clinical trials. Cancer-related fatigue was consistently one of the most prevalent, severe, and distressing symptoms, and it persisted long-term in survivors. It was associated with a number of factors, including poor sleep, depression, and chemotherapy. There was little evidence for the effectiveness of any intervention, although exercise appears to be the most promising. Importantly, fatigue was itself a significant barrier to physical and social activities.
conclusionCancer-related fatigue is a major and disabling problem in young cancer patients. Effective management strategies are needed to avoid compounding the dependence and social isolation of this vulnerable patient group. Future research should focus on providing evidence for the effectiveness of interventions, of which activity promotion and management of concurrent symptoms are the most promising.
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