Evaluating the Role of Mitochondrial Function in Cancer-related Fatigue

The overall goal of this procedure is to evaluate mitochondrial dysfunction associated with fatigue in cancer patients. This method can help answer key questions in the supportive cancer care field such as whether mitochondrial dysfunction is associated with fatigue in patients with cancer after receiving radiation therapy. The main advantage of this technique is that it is less invasive and can be easily used in the clinic to identify patients at risk for toxicities from cancer therapy.

This technique not only advances our understanding of the role of mitochondrial dysfunction in cancer related fatigue bit it can also improve assessment and can optimize its management. Though this method can provide insight into the underlying mechanisms of cancer related fatigue it can also be applied to other fatiguing disease conditions such as metabolic and uri inflammatory conditions. Generally it can be challenging for individuals new to this method to inject respiratory inhibitors into each port of the sensor cartridge properly without prior visual demonstration.