Fatigue is one of the most prevalent and distressing complications among hematopoietic cell transplantation HCT survivors, affecting up to 80% of patients. Fatigue has a significant negative impact on the physical, functional, social, and emotional domains of quality of life. Therefore, special attention should be directed toward therapeutic interventions in reducing persistent fatigue, which in turn improves quality of life of this patient population. Research is needed to determine if yeast-derived β-glucan regulates inflammatory disruption and fatigue in patient populations. This study will investigate the efficacy of β-glucan supplementation on fatigue symptoms in autologous HCT survivors due to multiple myeloma. The primary aim is to evaluate the effect of β-glucan supplementation on changes in fatigue symptoms, as assessed by the BFI global fatigue score, by testing the differences in changes in scores from baseline to the mid-point (mean of weeks 1-4) and to the end of the intervention (mean of weeks 5-8). Secondary objectives will be to evaluate tolerability, adverse events, inflammatory cytokines, quality of life, sleep disturbance, pain, anxiety, and depression.
This is a single-center, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study exploring the effects of a yeast-derived β-glucan on clinically significant fatigue among survivors of autologous HCT due to multiple myeloma. The primary aim is to evaluate the effect of β-glucan supplementation on changes in fatigue symptoms, as assessed by the Brief Fatigue Inventory (BFI) global fatigue score, by testing the differences in changes in scores from baseline to the mid-point (mean of weeks 1-4) and to the end of the intervention (mean of weeks 5-8).