TY - JOUR
T1 - Plasma Interleukin-6 and Fatigue in Terminally Ill Cancer Patients
AU - Inagaki, Masatoshi
AU - Isono, Masako
AU - Okuyama, Toru
AU - Sugawara, Yuriko
AU - Akechi, Tatsuo
AU - Akizuki, Nobuya
AU - Fujimori, Maiko
AU - Mizuno, Motoko
AU - Shima, Yasuo
AU - Kinoshita, Hiroya
AU - Uchitomi, Yosuke
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was supported in part by a third-term comprehensive control research for cancer grant from the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare; by a grant from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science; and a grant from the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Science, and Technology. The funding agencies had no role in the study design, data collection, analysis, or interpretation of the results.
PY - 2008/2
Y1 - 2008/2
N2 - Fatigue is one of the most distressing symptoms among terminally ill cancer patients. However, no effective intervention has been established. Several studies have suggested the role of cytokines in fatigue in cancer patients receiving anti-cancer treatment, patients with metastatic cancer, and cancer survivors, but not in terminally ill cancer patients. In the present study, the potential association between fatigue and plasma interleukin-6 (IL-6) was examined in 46 terminally ill cancer patients (median survival: 64.5 days) who received neither steroids nor nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Fatigue was evaluated by the Cancer Fatigue Scale (CFS), which consists of multiple dimensions of fatigue, such as Physical, Affective, and Cognitive subscales. Plasma IL-6 levels were measured using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and were compared between patients with and without "clinical fatigue" as defined by the total score of the CFS. Additionally, associations between each of the CFS scores and IL-6 levels were examined. As a result, the IL-6 level in patients with clinical fatigue (n = 27 [59%]; mean, SD, median, and range: 37.1, 46.4, 17.1, and 3.7-182.5 pg/ml, respectively) was significantly higher than those without clinical fatigue (n = 19 [41%]; mean, SD, median, range: 14.3, 12.2, 8.0, and 2.8-45.0 pg/ml, respectively) (P = 0.02). The IL-6 level significantly correlated with the Physical subscale score (r = 0.35, P = 0.02), but not with other subscale scores. In conclusion, IL-6 may play a role in fatigue, especially in the physical dimension, in terminally ill cancer patients. The results of the present study provide information to develop a new treatment strategy for cancer fatigue in terminally ill cancer patients.
AB - Fatigue is one of the most distressing symptoms among terminally ill cancer patients. However, no effective intervention has been established. Several studies have suggested the role of cytokines in fatigue in cancer patients receiving anti-cancer treatment, patients with metastatic cancer, and cancer survivors, but not in terminally ill cancer patients. In the present study, the potential association between fatigue and plasma interleukin-6 (IL-6) was examined in 46 terminally ill cancer patients (median survival: 64.5 days) who received neither steroids nor nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Fatigue was evaluated by the Cancer Fatigue Scale (CFS), which consists of multiple dimensions of fatigue, such as Physical, Affective, and Cognitive subscales. Plasma IL-6 levels were measured using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and were compared between patients with and without "clinical fatigue" as defined by the total score of the CFS. Additionally, associations between each of the CFS scores and IL-6 levels were examined. As a result, the IL-6 level in patients with clinical fatigue (n = 27 [59%]; mean, SD, median, and range: 37.1, 46.4, 17.1, and 3.7-182.5 pg/ml, respectively) was significantly higher than those without clinical fatigue (n = 19 [41%]; mean, SD, median, range: 14.3, 12.2, 8.0, and 2.8-45.0 pg/ml, respectively) (P = 0.02). The IL-6 level significantly correlated with the Physical subscale score (r = 0.35, P = 0.02), but not with other subscale scores. In conclusion, IL-6 may play a role in fatigue, especially in the physical dimension, in terminally ill cancer patients. The results of the present study provide information to develop a new treatment strategy for cancer fatigue in terminally ill cancer patients.
KW - Fatigue
KW - cancer
KW - interleukin-6
KW - terminally ill
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UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=38349156738&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2007.03.009
DO - 10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2007.03.009
M3 - Article
C2 - 18082358
AN - SCOPUS:38349156738
SN - 0885-3924
VL - 35
SP - 153
EP - 161
JO - Journal of Pain and Symptom Management
JF - Journal of Pain and Symptom Management
IS - 2
ER -
