Inclusion Criteria

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

- Diagnosis of stage III or IV invasive non-myeloid malignancy

- Not currently hospitalized

- At least somewhat bothered by fatigue based on self-report

- No significant psychological distress indicated by total score of 6 or more on
questions 1 and 2 of the Three-Question Screening Survey (3QSS)

- No score less than 2 on question 3 of 3QSS indicating low level of fatigue
within the past week

- No uncontrolled brain metastases or leptomeningeal involvement

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

Age:

- 18 and over

Performance status:

- Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) 0-3

Life expectancy:

- At least 12 weeks

Hematopoietic:

- Hemoglobin at least 8.5 g/dL but no greater than 11 g/dL

- No anemia due to factors other than cancer or chemotherapy (e.g., iron or folate
deficiency, hemolysis, or bleeding)

- No prior or concurrent hematological disease

Hepatic:

- Not specified

Renal:

- Not specified

Cardiovascular:

- No uncontrolled hypertension (diastolic blood pressure greater than 100 mm Hg or
systolic blood pressure greater than 200 mm Hg)

- No significant uncontrolled concurrent cardiovascular disease or dysfunction not
attributable to malignancy or chemotherapy

- No history of deep-vein thrombosis

Pulmonary:

- No significant uncontrolled concurrent pulmonary disease or dysfunction not
attributable to malignancy or chemotherapy

Other:

- Not pregnant or nursing

- Fertile patients must use effective contraception during and for 3 months after study
participation

- Able to understand and complete self-report symptom assessment forms in English

- No serious concurrent infection

- No known hypersensitivity to mammalian cell-derived products or human albumin

- No uncontrolled seizures

- No significant uncontrolled concurrent endocrine, neurologic, gastrointestinal, or
genitourinary system disease or dysfunction not attributable to malignancy or
chemotherapy

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

Biologic therapy:

- See Chemotherapy

- More than 4 weeks since prior biologic therapy (e.g., interferon or interleukin-2)

- More than 2 months since prior red blood cells (RBC) transfusion

- More than 1 month since prior epoetin alfa or investigational forms of epoetin alfa
(e.g., gene-activated, novel erythropoiesis-stimulating protein)

- Concurrent non-myelosuppressive therapy (e.g., monoclonal antibody infusions,
antiangiogenesis inhibitors, or signal transduction inhibitors) allowed

- No other concurrent biologic therapy

Chemotherapy:

- No prior high-dose chemotherapy (e.g., with bone marrow or stem cell transplantation)

- More than 4 weeks since prior chemotherapy

- No concurrent chemotherapy

Endocrine therapy:

- Concurrent hormonal therapy allowed (e.g., luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone
agonists or tamoxifen)

Radiotherapy:

- More than 4 weeks since prior radiotherapy

- No concurrent radiotherapy

Surgery:

- Not specified