Abstract
Background: It is been well recognized that cancer related fatigue (CRF) remains one of the common and distressful symptoms in cancer often unrecognized or under treated. The definition of fatigue is also confusing and has been defined as a symptom or a syndrome depending on the National Comprehensive Cancer Network-Clinical Practice Guidelines (NCCN) or ICD version 10 definition.
Aim: The purpose of this paper is to review and summarize the outcomes of studies that investigate the underlying pathophysiology of CRF and hopefully shed light on the future directions in CRF research.
Methods: 11 original papers published between 1988 and 2005, and 1 unpublished paper along with published abstract were evaluated and considered valuable in this review.
Conclusion: The pathophysiology of CRF derived from objective physiological and neuromuscular testing is a combination both central and peripheral mechanisms involving neuromuscular junction conduction and central drive that recruits muscle. Exercise testing and muscle wasting correlate poorly with subjective fatigue.