Fatigue occurs in 14% to 96% of people with cancer, especially those receiving treatment for their cancer. Fatigue is complex, and has biological, psychological, and behavioral causes. Fatigue is difficult to describe and people with cancer may express it in different ways, such as saying they feel tired, weak, exhausted, weary, worn-out, heavy, or slow. Health professionals may use terms such as asthenia, fatigue, lassitude, prostration, exercise intolerance, lack of energy, and weakness to describe fatigue.

Fatigue can be described as a condition that causes distress and decreased ability to function due to a lack of energy. Specific symptoms may be physical, psychological, or emotional. To be treated effectively, fatigue related to cancer and cancer treatment needs to be distinguished from other kinds of fatigue.

Fatigue may be acute or chronic. Acute fatigue is normal tiredness with occasional symptoms that begin quickly and last for a short time. Rest may alleviate fatigue and allow a return to a normal level of functioning in a healthy individual, but this ability is diminished in people who have cancer. Chronic fatigue is long lasting. Chronic fatigue syndrome describes prolonged debilitating fatigue that may persist or relapse. This illness is sometimes diagnosed in people who do not have cancer. Although many treatment- and disease-related factors may cause fatigue, the exact process of fatigue in people with cancer is not known.

Fatigue can become a very important issue in the life of a person with cancer. It may affect how the person feels about him- or herself, his or her daily activities and relationships with others, and whether he or she continues with cancer treatment. Patients receiving some cancer treatments may miss work, withdraw from friends, need more sleep, and, in some cases, may not be able to perform any physical activities because of fatigue. Finances can become difficult if people with fatigue need to take disability leave or stop working completely. Job loss may result in the loss of health insurance or the inability to get medical care. Understanding fatigue and its causes is important in determining effective treatment and in helping people with cancer cope with fatigue. Tests that measure the level of fatigue have been developed.

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