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Night sweats can be a side effect of cancer treatment or a symptom of certain cancers. Night sweats are part of a variety of symptoms referred to as vasomotor. Vasomotor symptoms stem from the body's thermoregulatory center, which is affected by circulating hormones.

Women may undergo oophorectomy (the surgical removal of one or both ovaries), either for ovarian cancer or when accompanied by hysterectomy for endometrial cancer or uterine sarcoma, as part of their cancer treatment. Pelvic radiation may also damage the ovaries. Removal or permanent damage to the ovaries results in immediate menopause. Many women with ovarian cancer have already gone through menopause, as a function of their age. However, when ovarian or reproductive tract cancer strikes a pre-menopausal woman, the immediate, versus gradual, loss of circulating hormones is dramatic, and is a concern in the immediate post-operative period. In an American Cancer Society News Today of January 29, 2001 the ACS reported on a study that found women undergoing systemic treatment for breast cancer, especially those on tamoxifen, reported a higher frequency and intensity of menopausal symptoms such as night sweats, hot flashes, and fatigue. Men may also experience vasomotor symptoms with metastatic adenocarcinoma of the prostate, or following removal of the prostate for prostate cancer.

Vasomotor symptoms such as night sweats add to the existing stress for individuals undergoing cancer treatment, as they can reduce the quality of sleep, make daily life very uncomfortable, and decrease the quality of life.