Spathis, A., Dhillan, R., Booden, D., Forbes, K., Vrotsou, K., & Fife, K. (2009). Modafinil for the treatment of fatigue in lung cancer: a pilot study. Palliative Medicine, 23, 325–331.

To determine the feasibility of conducting a randomized, controlled trial to assess the efficacy and safety of modafinil for the treatment of fatigue in patients with lung cancer.

Patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) took modafinil in a fixed dose-titration schedule (100 mg daily on day 1 and increasing in the second week to 200 mg daily) for 14 days.

• Twenty patients (6 females, 14 males) were included.
• Median age was 74 years. 
• All patients had NSCLC.

• Multisite
• Inpatient
• United Kingdom

This was an intervention feasibility study.

• Chalder Fatigue Questionnaire (CFQ)
• Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS)
• Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS)
• Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Fatigue (FACT-F)

• There was a change in fatigue between days 0 and 14.
• Mean fatigue decreased from 6.9 to 3.7.
• There were statistically and clinically significant improvements in fatigue scores from days 0 to 7.
• There was no statistically significant change from days 7 to 14.

It is feasible to conduct randomized, controlled trials.

The study had a small sample size, with less than 30 patients.

• This was an inexpensive pharmacologic intervention for cancer-related fatigue.
• Randomized, controlled trials are needed to confirm the benefit.
• The intervention was well tolerated in patients with advanced cancer.
• Poststudy, 10 patients chose to continue taking modafinil.