Identifying the factors that influence severity of fatigue in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia treated with targeted therapy.

This study explored the factors that affect fatigue severity and the relationship between fatigue severity and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). The data showed that worse fatigue was associated with high body mass index (BMI; weight in relation to height) and more sleep disturbance among these patients.

CML is a type of cancer that starts in blood-forming cells of the bone marrow and enters the blood. Tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) is a type of targeted therapy that works by blocking the growth of cancer cells. TKIs such as imatinib (Gleevec) significantly improved survival for patients with CML. However, fatigue associated with TKIs can negatively impact patients’ quality of life.

However, whether there are certain factors associated with fatigue in patients with CML treated with TKIs is still unknown.

This study involved 44 patients with CML treated with TKIs for at least 2.5 years. More than half of the patients had received at least one other TKI before. 77% of the patients reported severe fatigue.

Worse fatigue was associated with higher BMI, prior treatment with other TKI(s), more sleep disturbance, and less physical activity. Worse fatigue was associated with worse overall HRQoL and worse functional, physical, and emotional domains of well-being.

This study concluded that worse fatigue was associated with high BMI, less physical activity, and more sleep disturbance among patients with CML on TKI therapy.

The sample size was small. Factors such as depression that could impact fatigue were not evaluated in this study.