Post-cancer fatigue “overestimated"
Previous studies had stated that up to 50% of breast cancer survivors suffered fatigued for many months after treatment ends, but the new research suggests the number is as small as 6%. Image: MorePixels/iStockphoto Despite widespread belief to the contrary, as few as 6% of women experience cancer-related persistent fatigue a year after undergoing treatment for breast cancer, a new study has found. Prolonged and disabling fatigue is a common side-effect of many cancer treatments, with large numbers of women reporting that cancer-related fatigue persists for many months after treatment ends. Some studies put the figure as high as 50%. But a study of breast cancer survivors from a group of collaborating hospitals in Sydney together with staff of the UNSW’s newly established Cancer Survivors’ Centre has found that figure is overstated, with the previously reported high rates of fatigue most likely attributable to factors unrelated to the cancer or its treatment. And while the...