Fatigue mechanisms in patients with cancer: effects of tumor necrosis factor and exercise on skeletal muscle

Authors

Barbara St. Pierre Schneider, University of Nevada, Las VegasFollow
C. E. Kasper, University of California - Los Angeles
A. M. Lindsey, University of California - Los Angeles

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

4-1992

Publication Title

Oncology Nursing Forum

Volume

19

Issue

3

First page number:

419

Last page number:

425

Abstract

Fatigue is a common adverse effect of cancer and its therapy. However, the specific mechanisms underlying cancer fatigue are unclear. One physiologic mechanism may involve changes in skeletal muscle protein stores or metabolite concentration. A reduction in skeletal muscle protein stores may result from endogenous tumor necrosis factor (TNF) or from TNF administered as antineoplastic therapy. This muscle wasting would require patients to exert an unusually high amount of effort to generate adequate contractile force during exercise performance or during extended periods of sitting or standing. This additional effort could result in the onset of fatigue. Additionally, cancer fatigue may develop or become exacerbated during exercise as a consequence of changes in the concentration of skeletal muscle metabolites. These biochemical alterations may interfere with force that is produced by the muscle contractile proteins. These physiologic changes may play a role in the decision to include exercise in the rehabilitation plans of patients with cancer. They also may affect ideas about fatigue.

Keywords

Acid-Base Equilibrium; Cancer – Nursing; Cancer – Treatment; Exercise; Exercise/physiology; Fatigue; Fatigue/etiology; Fatigue/metabolism; Fatigue/physiopathology; Humans; Metabolites; Muscles/metabolism; Muscles/physiopathology; Neoplasms/complications; Neoplasms/nursing; Neoplasms/therapy; Nursing Research; Oncology Nursing/methods; Patient Education as Topic; Tumor Necrosis Factor; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha/metabolism; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha/physiology

Disciplines

Medicine and Health Sciences | Nursing | Oncology

Language

English

Permissions

Use Find in Your Library, contact the author, or interlibrary loan to garner a copy of the item. Publisher policy does not allow archiving the final published version. If a post-print (author's peer-reviewed manuscript) is allowed and available, or publisher policy changes, the item will be deposited.

Repository Citation

Schneider, B. S., Kasper, C. E., Lindsey, A. M. (1992). Fatigue mechanisms in patients with cancer: effects of tumor necrosis factor and exercise on skeletal muscle. Oncology Nursing Forum, 19(3), 419-425.