The following is a summary of “Cancer and Non-cancer Fatigue Treated With Bupropion: A Systematic Review,” published in the January 2023 issue of Pain Management by Correa-Morales, et al.

There were a few suggestions for pharmaceutical therapies for fatigue, a common and bothersome symptom in cancer and non-cancer illnesses. It was uncertain if the innovative therapy bupropion was safe and effective for treating tiredness. For a study, researchers sought to comprehensively evaluate the data about bupropion’s effectiveness and safety in treating tiredness in patients with cancer and non-cancer illnesses.

Up until July 26, 2022, the databases of Ovid Medline, EMBASE, and PubMed were searched. Studies were included if they utilized an objective scale to evaluate symptom outcomes and reported bupropion as an intervention for cancer and non-cancer-related tiredness. In addition, studies on adult patients that were experimental or quasi-experimental and published in English were considered.

The review covered seven research that enrolled a total of 584 patients: 3 randomized studies, 3 non-randomized studies, and one case series. Bupropion was evaluated in two trials for treating tiredness unrelated to cancer and 5 studies for treating fatigue linked to cancer. In terms of the scales employed to measure fatigue, the research under evaluation was varied. Bupropion considerably decreased the burden of fatigue without having any notable negative effects, according to 6 out of 7 trials. However, the limited sample sizes and poor quality of the research they analyzed needed them to proceed with caution despite these encouraging results.

In both cancer and non-cancer diseases, bupropion may show to be an efficient and secure remedy for tiredness. However, to verify the validity of the present preliminary findings, a superior randomized experiment was required.

Reference: jpsmjournal.com/article/S0885-3924(22)00908-3/fulltext