
“Deborah agreed to take part in a trial as she was keen to help other cancer patients in the future. "If taking part in a trial means others might be helped then I’m very happy with that."
This study looked at sleep and memory problems and the causes of severe tiredness (fatigue) after treatment for early stage breast cancer. This study was supported by Cancer Research UK.
Treatment for early stage breast cancer often works well and you can remain free of breast cancer in the long term. But it is possible that you will have long term side effects from your treatment. These side effects may include tiredness and lack of energy (fatigue) and sleep, mood and memory problems. We know from research that some patients find fatigue more distressing than pain or feeling and being sick.
Researchers want to understand more about the causes of fatigue after treatment for early breast cancer. The aims of this study were to
The research team found that a significant number of women who’d had treatment for breast cancer had cancer related fatigue syndrome (CRFS). CRFS is when extreme fatigue affects your physical or mental (cognitive) ability to do everyday things.
This study recruited 114 women from St George’s Hospital in London. The women taking part had finished treatment for early stage breast cancer between 3 months and 2 years before they joined the study. Of the 114 women,
The research team assessed everyone taking part to find out more about the effect fatigue had. The women taking part
The research team found that there were significant differences between the CRFS group and the control group with
The research team concluded that a significant number of women have CRFS, and that it affects their daily activities. They recommend that health care professionals routinely identify women with, or at risk of, CRFS and give them more information and advice about coping with fatigue.
We have based this summary on information from the team who ran the trial. The information they sent us has been reviewed by independent specialists () and published in a medical journal. The figures we quote above were provided by the trial team. We have not analysed the data ourselves.
Please note: In order to join a trial you will need to discuss it with your doctor, unless otherwise specified.
Dr Ollie Minton
Cancer Research UK
National Institute for Health Research Cancer Research Network (NCRN)
This is Cancer Research UK trial number CRUK/06/042.
If you have questions about the trial please contact our cancer information nurses
Freephone 0808 800 4040
“Deborah agreed to take part in a trial as she was keen to help other cancer patients in the future. "If taking part in a trial means others might be helped then I’m very happy with that."