In an article published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, EORTC describes a new measurement tool that provides quantitative measurement of cancer–related fatigue in conjunction with the existing EORTC quality of life core questionnaire. The EORTC QLQ–FA12 module assesses physical, cognitive and emotional aspects of cancer–related fatigue and was validated in a study involving 946 patients in 17 centers across 11 countries.

“Fatigue is one of the factors that most greatly affect quality of life in patients,” says Prof Joachim Weis, Principal Investigator for the study. “Because it is suggestive, it has traditionally been hard to measure, and patients often face a lack of understanding from their entourage and treating specialists. Providing a scientifically validated tool to objectively measure cancer–related fatigue will help improve patient–doctor dialogue around cancer management options.”

“While some tools to measure cancer–related fatigue are available, the EORTC tool was validated using state–of–the–art guidelines, measuring applicability and reliability across languages and patient types (curative, palliative, recent survivor and long–term survivor),” said Andrew Bottomley, Assistant Director and Head of EORTC’s Quality of Life department. “It therefore provides a unique standardized questionnaire that allows clinicians to make reliable comparisons over time and between patient subgroups.”

The module, to be used in conjunction with the EORTC QLQ–C30 questionnaire, is available from the EORTC Quality of Life group in Arabic, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Mandarin, Norwegian, Polish, Spanish, and Swedish.