Fatigue in cancer patients compared with fatigue in the general United States population

Abstract

Melnick‐Needles syndrome is a rare putative X‐linked dominant bone dysplasia. The patients have short stature, characteristic facial features, and a normal intelligence. The skeletal dysplasia includes S‐shaped curvature of tubular bones and sclerosis of the base of the skull. The phenotype of affected individuals varies, even within families. This could be related to X chromosome inactivation. We report here on a very mildly affected mother and her two severely affected daughters with characteristic features of Melnick‐Needles syndrome. In addition, the two daughters had very similar pigmented nevi on their back. X chromosome inactivation analysis of blood DNA revealed a skewed X inactivation pattern in all three affected females, with the normal X chromosome as the predominating active X chromosome. The X inactivation pattern was similar in buccal smear and blood DNA in the mother and one of the daughters, whereas the other daughter had a skewed pattern in blood only. X chromosome inactivation in blood and buccal smear DNA therefore does not explain the phenotypic variation in this family. The skewed X chromosome inactivation is in agreement with X‐linked inheritance of Melnick‐Needles syndrome and suggests a critical role of the Melnick‐Needles gene in hematopoietic cell proliferation. Clinical evidence indicates that Melnick‐Needles syndrome is allelic to the otopalatodigital syndromes, which have been assigned to Xq26‐28. Haplotype analysis of the X chromosomes in this family was in agreement with the localization of the gene for Melnick‐Needles syndrome to Xq25‐qtel. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

Fatigue and quality of life in breast cancer survivors: a comparative study

“…Moreover, previous studies have confirmed that breast cancer survivors with increased fatigue rated their quality of life at a lower level [12][13][14]16 . On the other hand, assessing fatigue in cancer survivors is a challenge since fatigue is also a common complaint with some level of fatigue reported by the general population 17,18 .…”

Sexual Self Schema as a Moderator of Sexual and Psychological Outcomes for Gynecologic Cancer Survivors

“…Third, a nurse evaluated symptomatology frequently experienced as late-onset physical sequelae of gynecologic cancer treatment-bladder, urinary tract, bowel, and endocrine changes/dysfunction (Janda, Obermair, Cella, Crandon, & Trimmel, 2004). We also included patient-reported posttreatment vaginal changes and fatigue, which are common, significantly affect quality of life (Broeckel, Jacobsen, Horton, Balducci, & Lyman, 1998;Cella, Lai, Chang, Peterman, & Slavin, 2002), and are associated with lower frequency of sexual activity (Cain et al, 2003). Finally, we assessed, from the participant's perspective, her partner's sexual difficulties to control for relative access to a sexual partner, as men with sexual dysfunction are significantly less likely to be sexually active (Blanker et al, 2001).…”

Personality and fatigue in patients with benign or malignant breast disease

“…Physical, cancer-or treatment-related factors such as anemia [7], receiving chemotherapy [16], radiotherapy [25], and/or hormone therapy only partially explain the difference with fatigue in the general population. Regarding the association between fatigue and personality in (breast) cancer patients, inconsistent findings were reported.…”