Cancer-related fatigue (CRF) is the most common symptom in patients with cancer, and there are limited effective treatments available.

Fatigue has the potential to have significant physical, emotional and familial effects, and can even impact a patient’s ability to receive cancer treatment.

Clinical trials investigating medicines to treat CRF often find no improvements over placebo, suggesting the placebo effect may be affecting outcomes.

To investigate the potential for an open-label placebo to treat CRF, Sriram Yennu, M.D., and colleagues led a Phase II/III trial evaluating placebo treatment for patients with advanced cancers and a diagnosis of CRF.

Ninety patients were randomized to receive either a placebo with a message about the treatment or to be enrolled in a wait list control group.

Study results demonstrated that the open-label placebo treatment offered significant reductions in CRF as measured by several established fatigue scales, and these improvements in fatigue were maintained for the entire four weeks of the study period.

The findings suggest that further studies to evaluate this treatment approach are justified.

Yennu will present the findings on June 6.

Source: MD Anderson Cancer Center