Fatigue – symptom or side effect

SUMMARY – Cancer-related fatigue (CRF) is common in most cancer patient, which has a high impact on the quality of their life. It affects not only the patient itself, but also their families and relationships. It is the most underreported, overlooked and undertreated symptom. The screening and adequate treatment of CFR is getting more attention nowadays and it became the subject of guidelines of several international expert groups like the ASCO) and the NCCN. In this review we would like to summarize the contributory factors of CRF, the screening methods, the clinical assessment and the interventions of patients with cancer related fatigue. We try to give guidance to distinguish fatigue as a symptom of disease progression or as a side effect that we can treat. But lastly the most important question becomes that why CRF is so underreported.