Category: Cancer Care

A clinical trial in London has shown the feasibility and usefulness of providing acupuncture within a busy NHS radiotherapy unit. A total of 101 cancer patients were randomised to receive either standard care in the unit, or standard care plus acupuncture. The latter was given to assist with common symptoms such as fatigue, nausea, vomiting, hot flushes, mood and sleep problems. Patients were given between three and eight acupuncture treatments, one week apart.

Patients reported qualitatively that they valued the positive impact acupuncture had, with improvements in fatigue, nausea, vomiting, pain, insomnia and shortness of breath being noted. Quantitatively, only improvements in fatigue were identified.

(A feasibility trial of acupuncture in cancer patients undergoing radiotherapy treatment. Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice, May 2021.)

An American team, part funded by the US Government’s National Institutes of Health, has shown that acupuncture for chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy, offers significant improvements over usual care. The pilot randomised trial recruited 75 patients who had received at least three months of chemotherapy. They compared eight weeks of acupuncture, with both sham acupuncture and usual care. Compared with usual care, real acupuncture had the greatest effect on pain, tingling and numbness.

From baseline to week 8, the mean pain reduction in the real acupuncture group was -1.75, that for sham acupuncture was -0.91, and that for usual care was -0.19. At 12 week follow-up, real acupuncture maintained virtually all of its improvement, whilst sham had dropped back to -0.34.

(Effect of Acupuncture vs Sham Procedure on Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy Symptoms: A Randomized Clinical Trial. Journal of the American Medical Association Network Open, 11 March 2020.)

Acupuncture helps cancer pain quickly and reduces the use of analgesics, according to researchers. A total of 160 patients were randomly assigned to one of four groups: conventional opioid painkillers only; opioids plus wrist-ankle acupuncture; opioids plus ear acupuncture; opioids plus wrist-ankle and ear acupuncture.

The analgesic effect reported in the group receiving opioids only, was significantly lower than that reported in the three acupuncture groups. The most effective analgesic effect was found in the group receiving wrist-ankle plus ear acupuncture: 45% of patients in this group reported pain within a tolerable range and felt no need for medication.

(Effect of wrist-ankle acupuncture therapy combined with auricular acupuncture on cancer pain: A four-parallel arm randomized controlled trial. Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice, May 2020.)

An American study shows acupuncture reduces pain after bone marrow transplantation, and decreases postoperative opioid use. Sixty adults with multiple myeloma and undergoing chemotherapy and stem cell transplantation, were randomised to receive either true or sham acupuncture once daily for five days. The first treatment was given the day after chemotherapy. Opioid use was assessed at 5, 15 and 30 days after transplantation.

All 15 true acupuncture patients who were non-users of opioids, remained free of them still at the end of the study. By contrast, 20% of those given sham acupuncture started using opioids after chemotherapy and stem cell infusion (day 5), and by the 30 day point, 40% were users. As regards patients who were already opioid users at baseline, by day 30, 21% in the true acupuncture group and 30% in the sham acupuncture group, had increased their use. The researchers conclude that acupuncture appears to significantly reduce the need for pain medications during this procedure and warrants further studies as an opioid-sparing intervention.

(Reduction of Opioid Use by Acupuncture in Patients Undergoing Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation: Secondary Analysis of a Randomized, Sham-Controlled Trial. Pain Medicine, 9 September 2019.)

A review by American clinicians of acupuncture in cancer care, shows it is associated with improvements across a range of symptoms patients typically encounter. They studied records on 375 patients, mean age 56, presenting for acupuncture treatment over one year at an outpatient integrative medicine clinic. The worst symptoms at baseline were poor sleep, fatigue, impaired wellbeing and pain.

After the initial acupuncture session, statistically significant improvements were noted across all symptoms. The highest mean reduction occurred for hot flushes, followed by fatigue, numbness/tingling and nausea. Clinically significant reductions were observed in both physical and psychological symptom scores, including those for anxiety, appetite, depression, dry mouth, shortness of breath and wellbeing. Response rates were highest for symptoms of spiritual pain (59%), dry mouth (58%) and nausea (57%).

The study authors point out that a 2017 National Cancer Institute paper identified as a future direction the need to advance the evidence-based integration of acupuncture into conventional cancer care settings.

(Outpatient acupuncture effects on patient self-reported symptoms in oncology care: a retrospective analysis. Journal of Cancer, 8 September 2018.)