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Fatigue in cancer patients is not related to changes in oxyhaemoglobin dissociation

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Abstract

Background

There is only a weak association between the degree of anaemia and severity of fatigue in cancer patients. It has been hypothesised that there may be functional changes in the erythrocytes or haemoglobin of cancer patients and that this may result in fatigue even in the presence of a “normal” or “low normal” haematocrit.

Purpose

The purpose of the study was to investigate the relationship between oxyhaemoglobin dissociation and fatigue in patients with cancer and to compare oxyhaemoglobin dissociation between cancer patients and healthy controls.

Patients and methods

A heterogeneous group of patients with cancer (n=22) and a control group of healthy subjects without cancer (n=28) were studied. Subjects completed a fatigue questionnaire [the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy Fatigue (FACT-F) scale] and provided 10 ml of blood for analysis. Specimens were analysed to determine the partial pressure of oxygen at which 50% haemoglobin saturation occurred (P50) and were also sent for routine haematological and biochemical analysis.

Results

No differences were found between the oxyhaemoglobin dissociation curves of patients with cancer and controls. There was no significant correlation between fatigue severity and P50 in either patients or controls.

Conclusion

There is no evidence to support the hypothesis that cancer-related fatigue is due to differences in oxyhaemoglobin dissociation.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by a grant from Ortho-biotech UK.

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Author notes

  1. John S. Gibson

    Present address: Department of Clinical Veterinary Medicine, Cambridge, UK

  2. Rebecca J. Wright

    Present address: Centre for Mathematics and Physics in the Life Sciences and EXperimental Biology (CoMPLEX), London, UK

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mental Health, St George’s Hospital Medical School, Cranmer Terrace, London, SW17 ORE, UK

    Patrick C. Stone

  2. St George’s Hospital Medical School, London, UK

    Alya Abdul-Wahab

  3. Department of Physiology, St George’s Hospital Medical School, London, UK

    John S. Gibson, Rebecca J. Wright & Paul L. Andrews

Authors
  1. Patrick C. Stone
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  2. Alya Abdul-Wahab
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  3. John S. Gibson
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  4. Rebecca J. Wright
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  5. Paul L. Andrews
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Patrick C. Stone.

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Stone, P.C., Abdul-Wahab, A., Gibson, J.S. et al. Fatigue in cancer patients is not related to changes in oxyhaemoglobin dissociation. Support Care Cancer 13, 854–858 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-005-0850-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-005-0850-3

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