The following cancer treatments are commonly associated with fatigue:
- Chemotherapy. Any chemotherapy drug may cause fatigue, but it may be a more common side effect of drugs such as vincristine and cisplatin. Patients often notice fatigue after several weeks of chemotherapy, but this varies among patients. Some patients feel fatigue for a few days, while others say the problem persists throughout the course of treatment and even after it is completed.
- Radiation therapy. Radiation therapy can cause fatigue that increases over time. This can occur no matter where the treatment site is. Fatigue usually lasts from three to four weeks after treatment stops but can continue three months to one year after the treatment is finished.
- Combination therapy. More than one cancer treatment at the same time or one after the other increases the chances of developing fatigue.