Chronic fatigue is prevalent and associated with hormonal dysfunction in long-term non-Hodgkin lymphoma survivors treated with radiotherapy to the head and neck region

Abstract

The purposes of this study were to assess the prevalence of chronic fatigue (CF) in irradiated survivors of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, analyze for associations between hormonal dysfunction and CF, and to investigate the associations between CF and functioning. Invited survivors were all treated with radiation to the head and neck region, with or without additional chemotherapy. The participants (n = 98) responded to questionnaires measuring CF, mental distress (HADS), and functioning (SF-36), and had blood drawn for analyses of four hormonal axes. Hormonal status was categorized as normal, hormone dysfunction in one or more axes, or hormone replacement therapy. A total of 29% of the survivors had CF. In multivariate analyses there was an increased risk of CF among survivors with untreated hormone dysfunction (OR 3.87, 95% CI: 1.20–12.51, p = 0.02). Survivors on hormone substitution did not have increased risk for CF compared to survivors with normal hormonal status. CF was significantly associated with reduced functioning.

Keywords::

• Fatigue
• Hormonal dysfunction
• Non-Hodgkin lymphoma survivors

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the cancer survivors who participated in the survey. We would also like to thank Torbjørn Furre and Karsten Eilertsen at the Department of Physics, Division of Surgery and Cancer Medicine, OUS, for help with the estimation of radiation doses, and Kirsten A. Larsen at the National Advisory Unit on Late Effects after Cancer Treatment, OUS, for practical assistance.

This project has been financed by a grant from The Norwegian Cancer Society.

Potential conflict of interest:

Disclosure forms provided by the authors are available with the full text of this article at www.informahealthcare.com/lal.