About half of women who have treatment for locally advanced cervical cancer suffer from insomnia, fatigue or hot flushes, Austrian researchers report today.
Because the symptoms could have a substantial impact on patients’ daily lives, they should be better recognised and treated when necessary, said Dr Stéphanie Smet, a resident in radiation oncology at the Medical University of Vienna, Austria.
Dr Smet will present her study findings at the European Society for Radiotherapy & Oncology (ESTRO 36) conference in Vienna after studying the after-effects of 1,176 patients who were treated between 2008 and 2015 at 22 centres around the world for locally advanced cervical cancer.
All women, whose ages ranged from 22 to 91, had received the gold-standard treatment of radiotherapy combined with chemotherapy, followed by brachytherapy. Patients were followed up for an average of 27 months.
They filled in questionnaires and were also were assessed for symptoms by their doctors.
Dr Smet said that her study showed that 64% of women experienced some fatigue once during their regular follow-up examinations in the years after treatment.
Half had experienced hot flushes, while 43% complained of insomnia. Severe or disabling symptoms were rare.
Younger women were more likely to experience the symptoms.
Dr Smet said: “Our study shows that around half of women with locally advanced cervical cancer are, at some point, suffering from mild to moderate fatigue, insomnia and hot flushes. These symptoms could have a serious impact on patients’ daily life, possibly influencing how they feel in their professional, social and family life.
“More and more women diagnosed with this type of cancer are surviving for longer, thanks to advances in radiotherapy. This is a relatively young group of patients, so many will possibly face decades of coping with their symptoms.
“It is important to realise that these symptoms can already exist before patients start the treatment, sometimes even before they are diagnosed with cancer. It is difficult to distinguish whether and to what extent these symptoms are caused by the cancer itself, by the treatment or by other factors. In most cases, it is probably a combination.”
Dr Smet told congress that more work is needed to help identify which patients are most at risk of developing these symptoms so that tailored support can be provided.
Leave a Reply