Cancer Health Center

Jet Lag and Some Chemotherapy Side Effects May Share Treatments

continued...

However, Morrow believes it's worth exploring whether daily supplements of melatonin may improve symptoms of fatigue in cancer patients.

Ngina Lythcott, PhD, breast cancer liaison from the National Black Women's Health Project, tells WebMD that fatigue and depression don't get the same attention that is given to treatment and prevention, even though they are very common among women who receive chemotherapy. Lythcott is also an associate dean at Columbia University's School of Public Health in New York.

She says she's glad that timing -- and body rhythms -- are emerging as very important characteristics to consider when physicians schedule screening, detection, and treatments. With this new research, she sees great promise in correlating body rhythms to therapy. "I can see that, eventually, higher circadian rhythms will help dictate daily patterns of rest and activity. I find that very exciting, and I hope the research in circadian rhythms continues."