Armodafinil and modafinil in the treatment of cancer-related fatigue: A systematic review

Cancer-related fatigue (CRF) is often cited as the most common and most severe symptom faced by cancer patients, whether that be before they receive a diagnosis of cancer or many years after cessation of cancer therapy or cancer remission. Effective therapy for CRF is lacking, and thus, the developm...

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Main Author: Alexa Mcguinness
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications 2025-07-01
Series:Annals of Oncology Research and Therapy
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Online Access:https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/aort.aort_47_24
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author Alexa Mcguinness
author_facet Alexa Mcguinness
author_sort Alexa Mcguinness
collection DOAJ
description Cancer-related fatigue (CRF) is often cited as the most common and most severe symptom faced by cancer patients, whether that be before they receive a diagnosis of cancer or many years after cessation of cancer therapy or cancer remission. Effective therapy for CRF is lacking, and thus, the development of a treatment to bridge this gap is crucial. Armodafinil and modafinil have displayed off-label uses in the treatment of many conditions characterized by fatigue. Therefore, the aim of this present paper was to evaluate the efficacy of armodafinil and modafinil in alleviating CRF through a review of randomized controlled trials investigating this subject. PubMed was searched to generate pertinent papers for this review, ultimately generating 10 papers after the application of inclusion and exclusion criteria, four and six of which implemented armodafinil-based and modafinil-based interventions, respectively. Armodafinil demonstrated success in alleviating CRF in one study, whereas modafinil improved CRF in three studies. Armodafinil and modafinil may be beneficial for specific subpopulations suffering from CRF, such as cancers associated with higher levels of fatigue or patients with particular pharmacokinetic features, and, as a result, further studies comprising larger and more heterogeneous samples, taking place over longer durations, may allow for more insight into whether armodafinil or modafinil could alleviate CRF.
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spelling doaj-art-0326efb91b194a00a74b00cae5c577512025-08-20T03:29:26ZengWolters Kluwer Medknow PublicationsAnnals of Oncology Research and Therapy2772-83822772-83902025-07-01529410210.4103/aort.aort_47_24Armodafinil and modafinil in the treatment of cancer-related fatigue: A systematic reviewAlexa McguinnessCancer-related fatigue (CRF) is often cited as the most common and most severe symptom faced by cancer patients, whether that be before they receive a diagnosis of cancer or many years after cessation of cancer therapy or cancer remission. Effective therapy for CRF is lacking, and thus, the development of a treatment to bridge this gap is crucial. Armodafinil and modafinil have displayed off-label uses in the treatment of many conditions characterized by fatigue. Therefore, the aim of this present paper was to evaluate the efficacy of armodafinil and modafinil in alleviating CRF through a review of randomized controlled trials investigating this subject. PubMed was searched to generate pertinent papers for this review, ultimately generating 10 papers after the application of inclusion and exclusion criteria, four and six of which implemented armodafinil-based and modafinil-based interventions, respectively. Armodafinil demonstrated success in alleviating CRF in one study, whereas modafinil improved CRF in three studies. Armodafinil and modafinil may be beneficial for specific subpopulations suffering from CRF, such as cancers associated with higher levels of fatigue or patients with particular pharmacokinetic features, and, as a result, further studies comprising larger and more heterogeneous samples, taking place over longer durations, may allow for more insight into whether armodafinil or modafinil could alleviate CRF.https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/aort.aort_47_24armodafinilcancerfatiguemodafinilquality of life
spellingShingle Alexa Mcguinness
Armodafinil and modafinil in the treatment of cancer-related fatigue: A systematic review
Annals of Oncology Research and Therapy
armodafinil
cancer
fatigue
modafinil
quality of life
title Armodafinil and modafinil in the treatment of cancer-related fatigue: A systematic review
title_full Armodafinil and modafinil in the treatment of cancer-related fatigue: A systematic review
title_fullStr Armodafinil and modafinil in the treatment of cancer-related fatigue: A systematic review
title_full_unstemmed Armodafinil and modafinil in the treatment of cancer-related fatigue: A systematic review
title_short Armodafinil and modafinil in the treatment of cancer-related fatigue: A systematic review
title_sort armodafinil and modafinil in the treatment of cancer related fatigue a systematic review
topic armodafinil
cancer
fatigue
modafinil
quality of life
url https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/aort.aort_47_24
work_keys_str_mv AT alexamcguinness armodafinilandmodafinilinthetreatmentofcancerrelatedfatigueasystematicreview