Massage therapy decreases cancer-related fatigue: Results from a randomized early phase trial

There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

Abstract

<div class="section"> <a class="named-anchor" id="S1">  </a> <h5 class="section-title" id="d982660e244">Background</h5> <p id="P1">Cancer-related fatigue (CRF) is a prevalent and debilitating symptom experienced by cancer survivors, yet treatment options for CRF are limited. Our study evaluated the efficacy of weekly Swedish Massage Therapy (SMT) vs. an active control condition (light touch, LT) and waitlist control (WLC) on persistent CRF in breast cancer survivors. </p> </div><div class="section"> <a class="named-anchor" id="S2">  </a> <h5 class="section-title" id="d982660e249">Methods</h5> <p id="P2">This early phase randomized, single-masked, 6-week investigation of SMT, LT and WLC enrolled 66 female Stage 0-III breast cancer survivors age 32–72 who had received surgery plus radiation and/or chemotherapy/chemoprevention with CRF (Brief Fatigue Inventory > 25). The primary outcome was the Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory (MFI), with the NIH PROMIS Fatigue scale secondary. </p> </div><div class="section"> <a class="named-anchor" id="S3">  </a> <h5 class="section-title" id="d982660e254">Results</h5> <p id="P3">Mean baseline MFI scores for 57 evaluable subjects were 62.95 for SMT, 55.00 for LT, and 60.41 for WLC. SMT resulted in a mean (sd) 6-week reduction in MFI total scores of −16.50 (6.37) (N=20), compared to −8.06 (6.50) for LT (N=20) and an <i>increase</i> of 5.88 (6.48) points for WLC (N=17) (treatment-by-time P<0.0001). Mean baseline PROMIS Fatigue scores were: SMT 22.25; LT 22.05 and WLC 23.24. Mean (sd) reduction in PROMIS Fatigue scores was −5.49 (2.53) points for SMT, compared to −3.24 (2.57) points for LT and −0.06 (1.88) points for WLC (treatment-by-time P=0.0008). Higher credibility, expectancy, and preference for SMT than for LT did not account for these results. </p> </div><div class="section"> <a class="named-anchor" id="S4">  </a> <h5 class="section-title" id="d982660e262">Conclusions</h5> <p id="P4">SMT produced clinically significant relief of CRF. This suggests that 6 weeks of a safe, widely accepted manual intervention causes a significant reduction in fatigue, a debilitating sequela for cancer survivors. </p> </div>

Related collections

Most cited references 34

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

Fatigue in breast cancer survivors: occurrence, correlates, and impact on quality of life.

J Bower, P A Ganz, K Desmond … (2000)

To describe the occurrence of fatigue in a large sample of breast cancer survivors relative to general population norms and to identify demographic, medical, and psychosocial characteristics of fatigued survivors. Breast cancer survivors in two large metropolitan areas completed standardized questionnaires as part of a survey study, including the RAND 36-item Health Survey, Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale, Breast Cancer Prevention Trial Symptom Checklist, Medical Outcomes Study Sleep Scale, and demographic and treatment-related measures. On average, the level of fatigue reported by the breast cancer survivors surveyed (N = 1,957) was comparable to that of age-matched women in the general population, although the breast cancer survivors were somewhat more fatigued than a more demographically similar reference group. Approximately one third of the breast cancer survivors assessed reported more severe fatigue, which was associated with significantly higher levels of depression, pain, and sleep disturbance. In addition, fatigued women were more bothered by menopausal symptoms and were somewhat more likely to have received chemotherapy (with or without radiation therapy) than nonfatigued women. In multivariate analyses, depression and pain emerged as the strongest predictors of fatigue. Although the majority of breast cancer survivors in this large and diverse sample did not experience heightened levels of fatigue relative to women in the general population, there was a subgroup of survivors who did report more severe and persistent fatigue. We identified characteristics of these women that may be helpful in elucidating the mechanisms underlying fatigue in this population, as well as directing intervention efforts.

0 comments Cited 230 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: found

Is Open Access

Exercise and other non-pharmaceutical interventions for cancer-related fatigue in patients during or after cancer treatment: a systematic review incorporating an indirect-comparisons meta-analysis

Roger Hilfiker, André Meichtry, Manuela Eicher … (2017)

Aim To assess the relative effects of different types of exercise and other non-pharmaceutical interventions on cancer-related fatigue (CRF) in patients during and after cancer treatment. Design Systematic review and indirect-comparisons meta-analysis. Data sources Articles were searched in PubMed, Cochrane CENTRAL and published meta-analyses. Eligibility criteria for selecting studies Randomised studies published up to January 2017 evaluating different types of exercise or other non-pharmaceutical interventions to reduce CRF in any cancer type during or after treatment. Study appraisal and synthesis Risk of bias assessment with PEDro criteria and random effects Bayesian network meta-analysis. Results We included 245 studies. Comparing the treatments with usual care during cancer treatment, relaxation exercise was the highest ranked intervention with a standardisedmean difference (SMD) of −0.77 (95% Credible Interval (CrI) −1.22 to −0.31), while massage (−0.78; −1.55 to −0.01), cognitive–behavioural therapy combined with physical activity (combined CBT, −0.72; −1.34 to −0.09), combined aerobic and resistance training (−0.67; −1.01 to −0.34), resistance training (−0.53; −1.02 to −0.03), aerobic (−0.53; −0.80 to −0.26) and yoga (−0.51; −1.01 to 0.00) all had moderate-to-large SMDs. After cancer treatment, yoga showed the highest effect (−0.68; −0.93 to −0.43). Combined aerobic and resistance training (−0.50; −0.66 to −0.34), combined CBT (−0.45; −0.70 to −0.21), Tai-Chi (−0.45; −0.84 to −0.06), CBT (−0.42; −0.58 to −0.25), resistance training (−0.35; −0.62 to −0.08) and aerobic (−0.33; −0.51 to −0.16) showed all small-to-moderate SMDs. Conclusions Patients can choose among different effective types of exercise and non-pharmaceutical interventions to reduce CRF.

0 comments Cited 121 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

Clinical practice guidelines on the use of integrative therapies as supportive care in patients treated for breast cancer.

Heather Greenlee, Lynda G Balneaves, Linda E Carlson … (2014)

The majority of breast cancer patients use complementary and/or integrative therapies during and beyond cancer treatment to manage symptoms, prevent toxicities, and improve quality of life. Practice guidelines are needed to inform clinicians and patients about safe and effective therapies.