Effects of Dexamethasone and Placebo on Symptom Clusters in Advanced Cancer Patients: A Preliminary Report.

CONCLUSIONS: The results of this preliminary study suggest significant correlation over time and improvement in the FAD cluster at day 8 and day 15 after treatment with dexamethasone. These findings suggest that fatigue, anorexia-cachexia, and depression may share a common pathophysiologic basis. Further studies are needed to investigate this cluster and target anti-inflammatory therapies. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Results of this preliminary study suggest that fatigue-anorexia/cachexia/depression cluster scores significantly improved in the dexamethasone treatment group as compared with placebo. These findings indicate that symptoms in the fatigue/anorexia-cachexia/depression cluster might share a common causative mechanism. Further studies are needed to validate these findings. PMID: 26888692 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: The Oncologist - Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Tags: Oncologist Source Type: research