Practice review: Evidence-based and effective management of fatigue in patients with advanced cancer

Background:

Fatigue affects most patients living with advanced cancer and is a symptom that healthcare professionals can find difficult to manage.

Aim:

To provide healthcare professionals with a pragmatic overview of approaches to management of fatigue in patients with advanced cancer that are commonly recommended by guidelines and to evaluate evidence underpinning them.

Design:

Scoping review methodology was used to determine the strength of evidence supporting use of interventions recommended in management of fatigue in patients with advanced cancer.

Data sources:

National or international guidelines were examined if they described the management of fatigue in adult cancer patients and were written within the last 6 years (2015–2021) in English. The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (January 2011–December 2021) was searched for ‘cancer’ AND ‘fatigue’ in title, abstract or keywords. A PubMed search was also made.

Results:

Evidence indicates physical exercise interventions are effective and patients may benefit from energy conservation tactics. Evidence does not support use of psychostimulants such as methylphenidate. Limited data were found on efficacy of corticosteroids, psychological interventions, nutritional intervention, sleep optimization or complementary therapies for management of fatigue in advanced cancer.

Conclusion:

We recommend regular assessment, review and acknowledgement of the impact of fatigue. Exercise and energy conservation should be considered. Pharmacological interventions are not endorsed as a routine approach. Many interventions currently recommended by guidelines are not supported by a robust evidence base and further research on their efficacy is required.