Category: Cancer Care

Acupuncture and massage for cancer pain have been studied in a large American multi-centre pragmatic trial. Both were found to be associated with pain reduction, and improved fatigue, insomnia and quality of life.

Nearly 300 patients, mean age 59, with advanced cancer, moderate to severe pain and life expectancy of six months or more, were selected. Patients were randomised to receive either acupuncture or massage, which was given weekly for ten weeks, then monthly up to the 26 week point.

Over the 26 weeks of treatment, acupuncture was found to reduce the worst pain scores by a mean of 2.5 whilst massage reduced the same scores by a mean 3.0. The difference between the two groups was not significant. Both treatments also improved fatigue, insomnia and quality of life.

(Acupuncture vs Massage for Pain in Patients Living With Advanced Cancer: The IMPACT Randomised Clinical Trial. Journal of the American Medical Association Network Open, 14 November 2023.)

Acupuncture helps chemo-induced neuropathy ie peripheral neuropathy caused as a side-effect of chemotherapy, according to researchers from the Christie NHS Foundation Trust and the University of Manchester. In a pragmatic trial, 108 cancer patients receiving chemotherapy and experiencing neuropathy, were randomised to have ten weeks of either acupuncture plus usual care, or usual care alone. Acupuncture comprised a weekly 40 minute session, whilst usual care was medication with gabapentin, pregabalin and/or amitriptyline.

At week 10, 68% of cases in the acupuncture group were classified as successfully treated, compared with 33% in the control group. Beneficial outcomes seen in the acupuncture group included clinicians’ grading of neuropathy, cancer-related quality of life and patients’ subjective pain scores. The team concludes that the data from this study has corroborated results from a previous evaluation and other smaller studies, confirming that this cohort of participants benefited from the acupuncture they received. The results also suggest that acupuncture can impact the complex symptom burden associated with this condition, not just the pain. However, sustainability of any improvements in symptoms requires longer follow-up.

(A randomised pragmatic clinical trial of ACUpuncture plus standard care versus standard care alone FOr Chemotherapy Induced peripheral Neuropathy ACUFOCIN). European Journal of Oncology Nursing, October 2022.)

Acupuncture helps “chemo neuropathy” symptoms ie peripheral neuropathy associated with chemotherapy treatment of cancer, according to researchers at the Faculty of Medicine, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology. A group of 168 participants were enrolled in a pragmatic trial, and treated in accordance with their preferences for either acupuncture and complementary & integrative medicine, or standard care alone as a control. Patients in the intervention arm were randomised to receive either twice-weekly acupuncture for six weeks, or acupuncture plus manual movement or mind-body therapy.

From baseline to six week assessment, the intervention groups improved significantly compared with the control group for criteria including overall chemotherapy-related quality of life, emotional wellbeing, hand numbness/tingling & discomfort, and physical functioning.

The researchers conclude that acupuncture, with or without complementary & integrative medical modalities, can relieve chemo neuropathy symptoms during oncology treatment. This is most pronounced for hand numbness, tingling, pain, discomfort, and for physical functioning.

(Impact of acupuncture & integrative therapies on chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy: A multicentered, randomized controlled trial. Cancer, 12 August 2022.)

German researchers at  the University Medical Center, Hamburg-Eppendorf, have found that acupuncture improves nerve regeneration in chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy. The progress is measurable both in terms of subjective reporting by patients, and objective neurological findings.

In a cross-over study, 60 patients were randomly assigned to either an acupuncture group, or to a waiting list control group. Ten acupuncture sessions were given once per week. The groups were then reversed, for a further ten weeks of treatment to be given this time to the former waiting list group.

After 28 weeks, evaluation of both groups showed that sensory nerve amplitude and conduction velocity were both improved after acupuncture, compared with the control group. Acupuncture patients also reported improvements in symptoms such as burning pain, cramps, numbness, symptom frequency and unsteadiness of gait. Physical examination revealed that acupuncture patients had significant improvements in blind walking, heel-to-toe walking, ability to perceive vibration and neuropathy deficit scores, compared with the waiting list group.

(Acupuncture improves chemotherapy-induced neuropathy explored by neurophysiological & clinical outcomes – The randomized, controlled, cross-over ACUCIN trial. Phytomedicine, September 2022.)

American researchers investigating whether acupuncture helps chemotherapy-induced neuropathy, have conducted a three-arm randomised trial at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York.  A group of 75 cancer patients were recruited. All had completed chemotherapy at least three months prior, and were experiencing moderate to severe neuropathy in the form of numbness, tingling or pain. Patients were randomly assigned to either real acupuncture, sham acupuncture or usual care. Acupuncture was given in the form of ten sessions over eight weeks, and biweekly for the first fortnight.

The real acupuncture group exhibited statistically significant improvements in quality of life, anxiety, insomnia and fatigue.

(Health-Related Quality of Life in Cancer Survivors with Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy: A Randomized Clinical Trial. Oncologist, November 2021.)