Light Therapy to Increase Energy in Adolescents and Young Adults Newly Diagnosed With Solid Tumors: A Pilot Study

Summary

Fatigue is one of the most consistent and distressing symptoms reported by pediatric oncology patients. The investigators' work has demonstrated that in the period from diagnosis through the initial 8 weeks of treatment, adolescents and young adults with solid tumors experience substantial fatigue that is not related to sleep disruption. Fatigue can contribute to many adverse outcomes including poor treatment adherence, reduced social activities, depressive symptoms, behavior problems, and poorer quality of life. Unfortunately, no definitive intervention to reduce fatigue has been developed for pediatric oncology patients. Investigators propose a study to estimate the feasibility and acceptability of bright light therapy as an intervention to decrease fatigue in adolescents and young adults who are newly diagnosed and receiving treatment for solid tumors, including lymphoma.

Conditions

• Neoplasms
• Fatigue

Interventions

OTHER

Bright White Light

The light will be administered via a Litebook Elite or Litebook Advantage (Litebook®, Ltd., Medicine Hat, Canada). The Litebook® is a small (6×5×1 in.) and lightweight (8 oz.) box and will be fitted with adherence monitors to record at what time and for what duration the light box is turned on. The Litebook® is designed to be placed on a table approximately 18 inches from the participant's head and within 45° of the midline of the visual field. The BWL Litebook® looks identical to the DRL and utilizes 24 white light-emitting diode (LED) lights and does not emit ultraviolet light.

OTHER

Dim Red Light

The light will be administered via a Litebook Elite or Litebook Advantage (Litebook®, Ltd., Medicine Hat, Canada). The Litebook® is a small (6×5×1 in.) and lightweight (8 oz.) box and will be fitted with adherence monitors to record at what time and for what duration the light box is turned on. The Litebook® is designed to be placed on a table approximately 18 inches from the participant's head and within 45° of the midline of the visual field. The DRL Litebook looks identical to the BWL box and contains red lights rather than white LED lights.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of California, San Diego

  collaborator OTHER

• University of Tennessee

  collaborator OTHER

• St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Valerie Crabtree, PhD · St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

SUPPORTIVE_CARE

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

12 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2015-07-17

Primary Completion

2018-10-16

Completion

2022-05-03

Countries

• United States

Study Locations