A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of oral coenzyme Q10 to relieve self-reported treatment-related fatigue in newly diagnosed patients with breast cancer

Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) is a common antioxidant supplement with known cardioprotective effects and potential anticancer benefits. Objectives: We performed a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of oral CoQ10 in female breast cancer patients with the primary

Supplementation with conventional doses of CoQ10 led to sustained increases in plasma CoQ10 levels but did not result in improved self-reported fatigue or QOL after 24 weeks of treatment.

Between September 2004 and March 2009, 236 women were enrolled. Treatment arms were well balanced with respect to age (range, 28-85 years), pathologic stage (stage 0, 91%; stage 1, 8%; stage II, 1%), ethnicity (white, 87%; black, 11%; Hispanic, 2%), and planned therapy. Baseline CoQ10 levels in the CoQ10 and placebo arms were 0.70 and 0.73 microg/mL, respectively; the 24-week CoQ10 levels were 1.83 and 0.79 microg/mL, respectively. There were no significant differences between the CoQ10 and placebo arms at 24 weeks for scores on the Profile of Mood States-Fatigue questionnaire (least squares means, 7.08 vs 8.24, P = .257), the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Fatigue tool (37.6 vs 37.6, P = .965), the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Breast Cancer instrument (111.9 vs 110.4, P = .577), or the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression scale (11.6 vs 12.3, P = .632). Conclusions: Supplementation with conventional doses of CoQ10 led to sustained increases in plasma CoQ10 levels but did not result in improved self-reported fatigue or QOL after 24 weeks of treatment.

ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00096356.