Warning: dumb question.

[napoleondynamite]

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Ok, so everyone probably has a question or two that they can't find the answer to but are way too embarrassed to ask. I have one, and I figure I better ask it now rather than have a patient ask me when I'm say..an attending...and not know the answer!

What specifically causes night sweats in cancer patients?

 

[Gfunk6]

Pyrogenic cytokines.

Check out: The role of cytokines in cancer-related fatigue. Cancer. 2001 Sep 15;92(6 Suppl):1684-8.

Link: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/e...ez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum

 

[f_w]

Are cytokines also responsible for the fatigue many patients complain about during radiation therapy ? I had two members of my family go through therapy for breast cancer. Both where completely wiped out during the course of their therapy which I found rather curious.

 

[deleted4401]

We always warn patients about fatigue, and many seem get a little out of sorts by the end, but I've seen very few people wiped out. I'm sure it happens.

I guess everyone reacts differently, but no one has really explained why this fatigue can happen. One thing I always hear is that "just driving in every day can make you tired," but I don't know about that. So many people drive somewhere every day and aren't concerned about being tuckered out.

-S

 

[Thaiger75]

Are cytokines also responsible for the fatigue many patients complain about during radiation therapy ? I had two members of my family go through therapy for breast cancer. Both where completely wiped out during the course of their therapy which I found rather curious.

I don't anybody really knows, but cytokines are 1 theory.

 

[radonc]

We always warn patients about fatigue, and many seem get a little out of sorts by the end, but I've seen very few people wiped out. I'm sure it happens.

I guess everyone reacts differently, but no one has really explained why this fatigue can happen. One thing I always hear is that "just driving in every day can make you tired," but I don't know about that. So many people drive somewhere every day and aren't concerned about being tuckered out.

-S

i explain to my patients that the fatigue is related to your body using more energy than usual to repair the effects/damage of the radiation on your normal tissue...

 

[stephew]

its as good an explanation as any. it is felt to be cytokines but that really is a medical way of saying I dunno. chemical stuff'