To investigate the latent profile characteristics and influencing factors of cancer-related fatigue in lung cancer patients undergoing concurrent chemoradiotherapy.

A total of 117 lung cancer patients who received concurrent chemoradiotherapy in our hospital from January 2020 to December 2024 were selected and divided into three groups based on the degree of cancer-related fatigue: mild group 34 cases, moderate group 56 cases, and severe group 27 cases. Surveys were conducted using the Cancer Fatigue Scale (CFS), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Social Support Rating Scale (SSRS), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), and Nutritional Risk Screening 2002 (NRS-2002). Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) was employed to identify potential categories of cancer-related fatigue, and logistic regression was used to analyze the influencing factors.

There were statistically significant differences among the mild, moderate, and severe groups in terms of CFS physical fatigue, emotional fatigue, cognitive fatigue, and total scores (P<0.001). Statistically significant differences were also observed among the three groups in age, disease duration, nutritional risk, sleep quality, social support, anxiety, depression, and Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS) scores (P<0.05). Logistic regression analysis showed that age (OR=1.10, 95%CI: 1.03~1.16), disease duration (OR=1.15, 95%CI: 1.05~1.26), nutritional risk (OR=1.83, 95%CI: 1.28~2.62), sleep quality (OR=1.17, 95%CI: 1.06~1.30), anxiety (OR=1.19, 95%CI: 1.05~1.36), C-reactive protein (CRP) (OR=1.07, 95%CI: 1.03~1.12), interleukin-6 (IL-6) (OR=1.12, 95%CI: 1.03~1.22), and cytokeratin 19 fragment (CYFRA21-1) (OR=1.13, 95%CI: 1.04~1.23) were risk factors for cancer-related fatigue in lung cancer patients undergoing concurrent chemoradiotherapy. KPS score (OR=0.94, 95%CI: 0.89~0.98), hemoglobin level (OR=0.96, 95%CI: 0.93~0.99), and albumin level (OR=0.93, 95%CI: 0.87~0.99) were protective factors.

Cancer-related fatigue in lung cancer patients undergoing concurrent chemoradiotherapy exhibits hierarchical characteristics. Increased age, longer disease duration, higher nutritional risk, poor sleep quality, significant anxiety symptoms, and elevated levels of CRP, IL-6, and CYFRA21-1 are associated with more severe fatigue.