Importance of body clock and daily rhythm stability for cancer patients

Three circadian rhythms became less stable and more fragmented in 24 patients with advanced gastro-intestinal cancer during treatment.

• Significant inter- and intra-individual variations were observed in temperature, activity, and position patterns, with phase differences of up to 12 hours.
• A moderate disruption of the body's internal timing system was noted in response to treatment.
• The administration of fixed chronomodulated chemotherapy partially resynchronized temperature and activity rhythms by the end of the study.
• The new biomarker, degree of temporal internal order maintenance (DI), indicated asynchrony among rhythms, which may aid in personalizing cancer chronotherapy.

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