Psychological and biological aspects of chronic fatigue among long-time survivors of cancer, 2005

The main object of this project is to examine the relationships between various psychological problems that are frequently reported in our samples of long-term survivors of cancer. We will investigate immunological parameters for possible biological correlates. To know what's specific for long-term survivors, we compare survivor data to general population data when possible. Thus, this project is divided into three sub goals:

1) Data not included: To investigate possible associations between symptoms of chronic fatigue and a wide variety of relevant variables among long-term survivors of testicular cancer (N=1,431). Fatigue scores among testicular cancer survivors are compared to norm data from 1996 (Loge, 1998)
2) To investigate possible associations between symptoms of chronic fatigue, depression, anxiety and levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines and cortisol in serum among long-term survivors of Testicular Cancer (N= 291).
3) To investigate possible associations between symptoms of chronic fatigue, depression, anxiety and levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines and cortisol in serum among long-term survivors of Breast Cancer (N= 315)

本项目的核心研究目标为探讨长期癌症幸存者队列中常见的各类心理问题之间的关联，并将检测免疫学参数以探寻潜在的生物学相关因素。为明确长期癌症幸存者的特异性表现，本研究在可行范围内将幸存者数据与普通人群数据进行对比。据此，本项目下设三个子研究目标：
1) 数据未纳入板块：针对睾丸癌长期幸存者（N=1431），探讨慢性疲劳症状与各类相关变量间的潜在关联。将睾丸癌幸存者的疲劳评分与1996年常模数据（Loge, 1998）进行对比。
2) 针对睾丸癌长期幸存者（N=291），探讨慢性疲劳、抑郁、焦虑症状与血清（serum）中促炎细胞因子（pro-inflammatory cytokines）及皮质醇（cortisol）水平间的潜在关联。
3) 针对乳腺癌长期幸存者（N=315），探讨慢性疲劳、抑郁、焦虑症状与血清中促炎细胞因子及皮质醇水平间的潜在关联。