Implications for practice and research

• Assessment of cancer-related fatigue must take into account both the physical symptoms and psychological distress.

• Interventions for cancer-related fatigue must emphasise the importance of psychological distress associated with this problematic side effect.

• Priority should be given to nausea/vomiting when managing cancer-related fatigue.

• Future research ought to focus on symptom clusters.

Context

Fatigue is one of the most common problems experienced by patients with cancer, regardless of diagnostic site or treatment modality. Differing from fatigue experienced by the general population, fatigue in cancer is not relieved with rest. It is pervasive and can have a profound effect on quality of life. Generally, patients with cancer develop their own approaches to deal with this challenge, but may not always …