ReviewCancers2021
Fatigue in Cancer Patients in Palliative Care-A Review on Pharmacological Interventions.
Review in Cancers, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers, 3 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
25 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 39 citations in OpenAlex.
- Comparison of Single Versus Multiple Nonpharmacological Interventions for the Management of Lung Cancer-Related Fatigue: A Systematic Review.The clinical respiratory journal · 2025Pooled it
- Palliative care utilisation globally by cancer patients: systematic review and meta-analysis.BMJ supportive & palliative care · 2025Pooled it
- Corticosteroids for the management of cancer-related fatigue in adults with advanced cancer.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2023Pooled it
- Associations of corticosteroid therapy with weight change and appetite in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer - a post hoc analysis from the MISTRAL trial.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2026Trial
- Effect of contact needle technique on cancer-related fatigue in palliative care patients: a randomized controlled trial.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2026Trial
- 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
- Effects of Mind-Regulation Acupuncture Therapy on Serum Ghrelin, Gastric Inhibitory Polypeptide, Leptin, and Insulin Levels in Breast Cancer Survivors with Cancer-Related Fatigue: A Randomized Controlled Trial.International journal of general medicine · 2023Trial
- Review
- Safety and Adverse Event Management of VEGFR-TKIs in Patients With Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma.Clinical journal of oncology nursing · 2025Review
- Effects of High-Resolution Natural Sound with Inaudible High-Frequency Components on Healing, Symptoms, and Sleep Satisfaction in Terminally Ill Cancer Patients.Palliative medicine reports · 2025Article
- Impact of Symptom Distress on the Quality of Life of Oncology Palliative Care Patients: A Portuguese Cross-Sectional Study.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Putting Methylphenidate for Cancer-Related Fatigue to Rest?Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology · 2024Article
- Article
- Methylphenidate for treating fatigue in palliative cancer care - effect and side effects in real-world data from a palliative care unit.Acta oncologica (Stockholm, Sweden) · 2024Article
- Fatigue in patients with metastatic breast cancer undergoing single-agent taxane-based chemotherapy: a real-world data global network.Therapeutic advances in medical oncology · 2024Article
- Fatigue-related symptom clusters and functional status of older adults in hospice.Palliative & supportive care · 2023Article
- Fatigue and associated factors among adult cancer patients receiving cancer treatment at oncology unit in Amhara region, Ethiopia.PloS one · 2023Article
- Article
- Review
- Zhengyuan capsules for the treatment of chemotherapy-induced cancer-related fatigue in stage IIIB-IV unresectable NSCLC: study protocol for a randomized, multi-center, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial.Journal of thoracic disease · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Fatigue is one of the most distressing symptoms experienced by cancer patients. The suggested biological mechanism for cancer related fatigue (CRF) includes immune activation triggered by tumor tissue or by anticancer treatment but other mechanisms have also been proposed. Previous large meta-analysis of interventions on fatigue focuses mostly on patients early in the disease trajectory, with only one tenth of included studies performed in palliative cohorts. The aim of this narrative review is therefore to present a background on CRF with focus on the palliative setting. A summary of recent randomized, controlled trials on pharmacological interventions on CRF in palliative care is presented, including studies on psychostimulants, corticosteroids, testosterone and melatonin. Interestingly, in several of these studies there was a positive and similar effect on fatigue in both the intervention and the placebo arm-indicating an important placebo effect for any pharmacological treatment. In addition, studies on dietary supplements and on pharmacological complementary medicines are discussed. To conclude, the evidence is still weak for using pharmacological treatments on CRF in palliative care patients-although methylphenidate and corticosteroids might be considered.
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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.