Palliative Care in Pancreatic Cancer
Palliative Care in Pancreatic Cancer
Fatigue is the most common symptom in patients with cancer. Cancer-related fatigue is a subjective experience that has a detrimental influence on the patient's quality of life, diminishing physical, emotional, work, and social relationships. The pervasive extensions of profound malaise can alter patients' ability to retain information and to continue with their treatment programs, thus lessening their success of achieving an antitumor response. The magnitude of the problem of fatigue has been underestimated, and there are no validated animal models to study, as there are with pain. Ninety per cent of patients' loved ones reported observing fatigue, and oncologists described 76% of their patients with this complaint. The pathogenesis of cancer-related fatigue is unknown and may represent a final common pathway for multiple possible mechanisms. Several possible contributing factors can be identified in patients with pancreatic cancer: depression, pain, opioid use, anemia, chemotherapy with or without radiation, insomnia, dehydration, and cachexia. The abnormal production and distribution of cytokines may be other possible mechanisms, as they have been implicated in the chronic fatigue syndrome. Treatment is often difficult and focused on obvious factors that are correctable: pain, anemia, insomnia, depression, and dehydration.
Fatigue
Fatigue is the most common symptom in patients with cancer. Cancer-related fatigue is a subjective experience that has a detrimental influence on the patient's quality of life, diminishing physical, emotional, work, and social relationships. The pervasive extensions of profound malaise can alter patients' ability to retain information and to continue with their treatment programs, thus lessening their success of achieving an antitumor response. The magnitude of the problem of fatigue has been underestimated, and there are no validated animal models to study, as there are with pain. Ninety per cent of patients' loved ones reported observing fatigue, and oncologists described 76% of their patients with this complaint. The pathogenesis of cancer-related fatigue is unknown and may represent a final common pathway for multiple possible mechanisms. Several possible contributing factors can be identified in patients with pancreatic cancer: depression, pain, opioid use, anemia, chemotherapy with or without radiation, insomnia, dehydration, and cachexia. The abnormal production and distribution of cytokines may be other possible mechanisms, as they have been implicated in the chronic fatigue syndrome. Treatment is often difficult and focused on obvious factors that are correctable: pain, anemia, insomnia, depression, and dehydration.
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