In Brief

Already known

• Insomnia symptoms affect 30% to 50% of cancer patients, deleteriously impacting overall health and well-being.

What this study showed

• Effective management of cancer treatment side effects such as nausea, digestive symptoms, night sweats and pain may be critical to treating insomnia in patients undergoing chemotherapy.
• For patients receiving hormone therapy, the effect of therapy on insomnia was mediated by night sweats and pain, suggesting that these somatic symptoms may require careful management.

Next steps

• Further research is needed to assess prevention, rather than treatment, of insomnia symptoms as well as to develop a global understanding of sleep difficulties in cancer patients.