title: Effects of infrared laser moxibustion on cancer-related fatigue: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Fatigue is the most common symptom negatively affecting the quality of life of patients with cancer. The objective of the current study was to evaluate the preliminary efficacy and safety of 10.6-μm infrared laser moxibustion for cancer-related fatigue (CRF).
  
  
  METHODS
  The authors conducted a randomized, placebo-controlled trial among 78 patients with cancer who were diagnosed with CRF. The group treated with infrared laser moxibustion received 10.6 μm of infrared laser moxibustion on the ST36 (bilateral), CV4, and CV6 acupoints. Each participant received a 20-minute treatment session 3 times per week for 4 weeks. The sham group received the same treatment duration on the same acupoints, but without infrared laser output. The outcome was change in fatigue as measured by the Chinese version of the Brief Fatigue Inventory between groups at week 4 with additional evaluation at week 8 for durability of treatment effects. A mixed effects model was used to evaluate the difference in treatment effect over time.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among those randomized, 61 patients (78%) completed the entire study. At the end of the intervention, the individuals in the group treated with the laser were found to have significantly less fatigue than those in the sham group (3.01 vs 4.40; P = .002). The improvement in fatigue persisted to week 8, favoring the group treated with laser moxibustion (3.03 vs 4.26; P = .006). Laser moxibustion was safe, with 3 cases of mild local erythema that resolved without medical intervention reported.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Infrared laser moxibustion appeared to be safe and efficacious for improving CRF in a Chinese patient population. Larger studies in more racial/ethnically diverse populations are needed to confirm the benefit of this technique for fatigue in patients with cancer. Cancer 2016;122:3667-72. © 2016 The Authors. Cancer published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of American Cancer Society. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.
authors: Acupuncture and Tuina College, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China.
authors: Huijuan
authors: H
authors: Mao
authors: Integrative Medicine Service, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York.
authors: Jun J
authors: JJ
authors: Mao
authors: Acupuncture and Tuina College, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China.
authors: Menghu
authors: M
authors: Guo
authors: Acupuncture and Tuina College, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China.
authors: Ke
authors: K
authors: Cheng
authors: Acupuncture and Tuina College, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China.
authors: Jianzi
authors: J
authors: Wei
authors: Yueyang Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China.
authors: Xubo
authors: X
authors: Shen
authors: Acupuncture and Tuina College, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China.
authors: Xueyong
authors: X
authors: Shen
mesh_terms: D015669:Acupuncture Points; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005221:Fatigue / Q000209:etiology* / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007259:Infrared Rays; D007834:Lasers; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009071:Moxibustion / Q000379:methods; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000150:complications*; D011788:Quality of Life; D016896:Treatment Outcome
keywords: acupuncture; cancer-related fatigue; clinical trial; laser; moxibustion