Severe and unremitting fatigue is a common symptom in individuals with advanced disease. Combined with weakness it comprises a syndrome known as asthenia. Asthenia is associated with advanced cancer, and becomes an increasing problem for patients as their disease progresses, having enormous implications for quality of life. However, despite its prevalence and impact, relatively little is known about this complex syndrome. The study described in this paper investigated and compared the fatigue experienced by cancer patients with different stages of disease, who were receiving chemotherapy. The results from this study both support the notion that fatigue increases as cancer progresses, and provide evidence for the prevalence of asthenia.