In May 2024, the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), a professional organization representing 45,000 physicians of all oncology sub-specialties who care for people with cancer, updated its guideline on the management of cancer-related fatigue in adult survivors of cancer.
The updated guideline states that clinicians should recommend exercise, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), mindfulness-based programs, and Tai Chi or Qigong to reduce the severity of fatigue during cancer treatment; to manage the fatigue after completion of treatment, yoga, acupressure, and moxibustion should be recommended.
Specifically for Tai Chi or Qigong, the guideline categorizes the strength of the recommendation as “strong”.
The updated guideline came from a multidisciplinary panel of medical oncology, geriatric oncology, internal medicine, psychology, psychiatry, exercise oncology, integrative medicine, behavioral oncology, nursing, and advocacy experts and was created based a systematic literature review of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published in 2013-2023.
