# Massage for Prostate Cancer-Related Fatigue

> **NIH NIH R21** · UTAH STATE HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM--UNIVERSITY OF UTAH · 2021 · $392,114

## Abstract

With over 15.5 million cancer survivors today in the United States, increased attention is being given to quality
of life after cancer treatment. Cancer-related fatigue (CRF), a persistent, subjective sense of physical,
emotional, and/or cognitive exhaustion related to cancer or its treatment that is not proportional to recent
activity, is the most common, and one of the most devastating symptoms among patients with cancer. CRF
can persist for months or years after cancer therapy is completed. Prostate cancer (PCa) is the most prevalent
cancer in men and has the highest Medicare expenditure of any cancer that affects older men. Modern tailored
treatment regimens have resulted in longer life expectancy, which lead to treatment related morbidity and
adverse side effects, including psychological distress, pain and CRF. This R21 will investigate the therapeutic
and biological effects of Swedish Massage Therapy (SMT) for CRF in PCa and is an extension of our
completed study in breast cancer survivors with CRF demonstrating that SMT produces clinically and
statistically significant improvements in fatigue and quality of life (QOL). A homogenous group of PCa survivors
with CRF (n=15 per group) will be randomized to one of three conditions: 6 weeks of once-weekly SMT, 6
weeks of once-weekly Light Touch (LT), or a 6 week wait list control (WLC) condition. Subjects that complete
SMT or LT will be followed up for persistent changes in CRF at 6 and 12 weeks after the last study visit. We
hypothesize that SMT will have a clinically meaningful benefit in improving fatigue, mood, and QOL in PCa
patients, and that this will correlate with favorable changes in physiological parameters that may underlie CRF
and potentially impact disease progression. Primary Aim: To conduct a preliminary study to determine
whether a 6-week SMT intervention decreases CRF among PCa survivors who have received both radiation
and androgen deprivation therapy. Secondary Aim: To determine whether the hypothesized decrease in CRF
with SMT is associated with modulation of specific immune system factors underlying chronic inflammation.
Exploratory Aims: 1) To determine whether SMT improves self-reported fatigue, QOL, depression, and
anxiety significantly more than LT or WLC, as assessed (respectively) by the Patient-Reported Outcomes
Measurement System (PROMIS) Fatigue Scale, the Quality of Life, Enjoyment, and Satisfaction Questionnaire
– short form (Q-LES-Q), the Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptoms – Self-Report (QIDS-SR16), and the
GAD-7. 2) To gather preliminary data about the sustained actions of 6 weeks of SMT versus LT on CRF, by
measuring MFI and PROMIS Fatigue Scale scores at 6 weeks and 12 weeks after the intervention. This
research will provide preliminary data demonstrating that SMT is an effective intervention for mitigating CRF in
a group of PCa survivors, that this effect is mediated by changes in key pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines,
and that SMT improves QOL and moo...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10290445
- **Project number:** 1R21CA263453-01
- **Recipient organization:** UTAH STATE HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM--UNIVERSITY OF UTAH
- **Principal Investigator:** Mark Hyman Rapaport
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $392,114
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-09-10 → 2025-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10290445

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10290445, Massage for Prostate Cancer-Related Fatigue (1R21CA263453-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-27 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10290445. Licensed CC0.

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