Improving Fatigue: A Pilot Study of Acupuncture and Patient Education for Breast Cancer Survivors

Inclusion Criteria:

Patient is between 18 and 65 years of age
Patient has a rounded Brief Fatigue Inventory score of 4 or greater
Patient is in a stable clinical condition

Exclusion Criteria:

Severe anemia (hemoglobin level less than 9 g/dL, hematocrit level less than 30, decline in hemoglobin of 2 g/dL in the previous month, or active treatment for anemia)
Karnofsky Performance Status below 70
Acupuncture treatment in the previous 6 months
Fatigue before cancer diagnosis
Patient is mentally incapacitated or unfit to provide informed consent or participate in an interview
Patient has the potential for serious bleeding due to inherited diseases such as hemophilia
Patient is taking medications that are either fatigue-inducing or have sedating properties
Patient is unavailable by telephone