ArticleAsian Pacific journal of cancer prevention : APJCP2018
Potential Role of Bupropion Sustained Release for Cancer-Related Fatigue: a Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study
Article in Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention : APJCP, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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
11 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 23 citations in OpenAlex.
- Guideline for Medication Management of Distressing Symptoms in Older Patients Receiving End-of-Life Palliative Care.Journal of evidence-based medicine · 2026Guideline
- Placebo response in trials of drug treatments for cancer-related fatigue: a systematic review, meta-analysis and meta-regression.BMJ supportive & palliative care · 2020Pooled it
- Efficacy and safety of bupropion in cancer-related fatigue, a randomized double blind placebo controlled clinical trial.BMC cancer · 2020Trial
- Chronic Fatigue in Cancer Survivorship: Psychiatry Versus Oncology or Psychiatry with Oncology?Current oncology reports · 2025Review
- Article
- Antidepressants for the treatment of depression in people with cancer.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2023Review
- Review
- Review
- Active repurposing of drug candidates for melanoma based on GWAS, PheWAS and a wide range of omics data.Molecular medicine (Cambridge, Mass.) · 2019Article
- Core Outcome Measures in Preclinical Assessment of Candidate Analgesics.Pharmacological reviews · 2019Review
- The role of neuro-immune interactions in cancer-related fatigue: Biobehavioral risk factors and mechanisms.Cancer · 2019Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Cancer-related fatigue (CRF) is very common and can be experienced at all stages of disease and in survivors. CRF causes patients more distress than pain or nausea and vomiting. Different pharmacologic interventions have been evaluated for the management of CRF. The purpose of this study was to determine the efficacy of bupropion sustained release (SR) as a treatment for fatigue in patients with cancer. Methods: In this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, patients with fatigue due to cancer were randomly assigned to either 150mg daily of bupropion SR or matching placebo. The primary endpoint was the changes in average daily fatigue from baseline to week 4 using the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness-therapy- Fatigue (FACIT-F) questionnaire. Results: 40 patients were randomly assigned to treatment with bupropion SR or placebo (20 in each group). Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) showed a significant improvement in fatigue and quality of life in the bupropion group compared to baseline (P=0.000). Secondary outcome, including depression, severity of fatigue and performance status didn’t show significant difference between groups. Generally, bupropion SR was tolerated well. Conclusion: Four weeks of 150 mg bupropion SR improve fatigue significantly in cancer patients. Bupropion has potential as an effective and safe pharmaceutical agent for treating CRF.
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