Prinsen, Hetty, Heerschap, Arend, Bleijenberg, Gijs et al. · PloS one · 2013 · DOI
This study looked at whether brain structure and chemistry differences seen in chronic fatigue syndrome patients also appear in cancer survivors with fatigue. Researchers compared fatigued and non-fatigued cancer survivors using brain imaging and measured whether cognitive behavior therapy changed these brain markers. They found no significant differences in brain structure or chemistry between fatigued and non-fatigued groups, and treatment did not change these markers even though fatigue improved.
This study challenges assumptions that postcancer fatigue and ME/CFS share identical neurobiological mechanisms. Understanding whether fatigue syndromes of different etiologies have different underlying brain pathology is crucial for developing targeted treatments and helps clarify whether ME/CFS-focused neuroimaging findings are specific to that condition or general markers of fatigue.
This study does not prove that brain structure and metabolism play no role in postcancer fatigue—only that they were not detectable by these specific imaging methods in this sample. It does not establish whether ME/CFS and postcancer fatigue are fundamentally different conditions, as the negative findings could reflect methodological limitations rather than biological truth. The findings cannot determine whether other neurobiological markers (e.g., neuroinflammation, mitochondrial function) distinguish these conditions.
About the PEM badge: “PEM required” means post-exertional malaise was an explicit required diagnostic criterion for participant inclusion in this study — not that PEM was studied, observed, or discussed. Studies using criteria that do not require PEM (e.g. Fukuda, Oxford) are tagged “PEM not required”. How the atlas works →
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