Fatigue is associated with inflammation in patients with head and neck cancer before and after intensity-modulated radiation therapy.

Patients with head and neck cancer (HNC) receiving intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) have particularly high rates of fatigue, and pre- and post-radiotherapy fatigue are prognostic factors for pathologic tumor responses and poor survival. Although inflammation has been proposed as one of the potential mechanisms of fatigue in cancer patients, findings have not been consistent, and there is a dearth of longitudinal studies. Accordingly, we conducted a prospective study in 46 HNC patients pre- and one-month post-IMRT.