Swallowing a specially designed energy drink each day could boost cancer patients left exhausted by chemotherapy, according to research published in the British Journal of Cancer.

Fatigue is one of the most common side effects of treatment for cancer, robbing patients of the energy to perform everyday tasks. But Italian scientists have found that giving people a substance called levocarnitine - which is taken in a pineapple flavored drink - seems to help them recover from the effects of treatment. In their study, 90 per cent of those who received the supplement recovered from their fatigue within a week.

Scientists believe many cases of fatigue - which affects 80 per cent of patients receiving chemotherapy - occur when treatment disrupts a patient's metabolism. This depletes levels of a molecule called carnitine, which is vital for providing energy to muscles.

According to Dr. Francesco Graziano of Urbino Hospital in Italy, "After chemotherapy, many patients have low levels of carnitine in their blood and we think that's one of the reasons they feel so exhausted. It seemed logical that boosting carnitine levels with a dietary supplement might restore that lost energy. Our study was the first to take this new approach to treating fatigue and the results, although preliminary, were very encouraging."

Graziano and his colleagues studied 50 patients who had reported feeling fatigue during the course of their chemotherapy. They used detailed questionnaires to assess each patient's degree of fatigue and took blood samples to measure carnitine levels.

The researchers then gave patients an energy drink containing levocarnitine, which is converted to carnitine in the body. After a week of treatment, their progress was assessed.

On average, blood carnitine levels increased by 50 per cent over the course of the week. And the questionnaires revealed that 45 of the 50 patients (90 per cent) no longer felt fatigued.

"The quality of life of our patients improved markedly over the course of the week, and it seems likely that the improvements were a result of the supplements they were taking," said Graziano.

"We now need larger-scale trials, to test the extent to which the supplement can restore patients' energy levels. It could become an important way of maintaining quality of life for patients undergoing intensive treatment for cancer."

SOURCE:
British Journal of Cancer, June 17, 2002; 86(12):1854