Investigating Fatigue and Its Relationship to Quality of Life and Pruritus in Cutaneous T-Cell Lymphoma

Cancer-related fatigue as a morbid state of physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion influencing everyday life is an important yet poorly investigated symptom in patients with cutaneous T-cell lymphomas. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of and the association between pruritus, quality of life, and fatigue in patients with cutaneous T-cell lymphomas. Mycosis fungoides and Sezary syndrome patients were invited to complete the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General (FACT-G) and the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Fatigue (FACIT-Fatigue) subscale questionnaire. Pruritus was assessed using the peak pruritus numeric rating scale. Half of the 38 recruited patients reported fatigue. 13 patients (34%) suffered from severe fatigue. The median (interquartile range) FACIT-Fatigue subscale score was 35.5 (25.75-43). The advanced disease stage was associated with more severe fatigue and a poorer quality of life. The FACIT-Fatigue subscale score was significantly correlated with quality of life (r = 0.8 and P < 0.0001). More than 80% of patients reported pruritus. There was no correlation between pruritus and fatigue (r = -0.19 and P = 0.26). All in all, fatigue is a common symptom of cutaneous T-cell lymphomas in early and advanced stage disease and has a strongly negative effect on cutaneous T-cell lymphoma patients' quality of life.