Researchers found inflammation was linked to fatigue among nearly 200 women with early-stage breast cancer during and after radiation and chemotherapy treatments. File Photo by Stephanie Lecocq/EPA
Fighting cancer can leave patients tired to their bones and researchers now think they might know why.
Inflammation was linked to fatigue among nearly 200 women with early-stage breast cancer during and after treatment with radiation or chemotherapy, researchers reported Monday in the journal Cancer.
Specifically, inflammation appeared to promote general and physical fatigue among the women, but not emotional or mental fatigue.
"Our findings indicate that inflammation plays a role in some aspects of cancer-related fatigue, but not others, and that these effects persist well after treatment," lead researcher Julienne Bower, chair of health psychology at UCLA, said in a news release.
