Cancer-related fatigue (CRF) is a common symptom that occurs in most cancer patients and survivors. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has proven to have unique values in clinical treatment of CRF in China, although still needs to be supported by higher level of clinical evidence as modern medicine develops. How to select an appropriate tool to assess CRF is essential to objectively estimate the treatment effect in clinical research on CRF using TCM. We reviewed the common tools used for assessing CRF in clinical research, and discussed the necessity of promoting the development of a standard TCM syndrome scale for CRF, so as to promote the standardization process of TCM treatment of CRF.
