Insights & Discussion
Acupuncture and/or acupressure was significantly associated with reduced cancer pain and decreased use of analgesics.
This study found a moderate level of evidence that acupuncture and/or acupressure was significantly associated with lower pain intensity in patients with cancer compared with a sham control, which suggests a potential for a combination of acupuncture and acupressure to help reduce opioid doses in patients with cancer.
Discover Related Insights
Acupuncture shows promising evidence in cancer palliative care, particularly in reducing therapy-induced side effects and cancer pain.
2013 Chinese Journal of Integrative Medicine Effectiveness of acupuncture for palliative care in cancer patients: A systematic review Lian, WL., Pan, Mq., Zhou, Dh. & Zhang, et al.
Systematic Review Cancer Pain
The study examined data from 33 randomized clinical trials that investigated the effectiveness of acupuncture in palliative care for cancer patients. The data were collected from seven different databases dating up to December 2010. The extraction and validation process was overseen by two independent reviewers who also assessed the trials using the Jadad scale.
The trials evaluated revealed diverse impacts of acupuncture on numerous cancer-related conditions. These include effects on side effects arising from chemotherapy or radiotherapy, cancer pain, post-operative urinary retention and other aspects of quality of life. The results showed promising potential for acupuncture being beneficial in palliative care, particularly in the reduction of chemotherapy or radiotherapy-induced side effects, and pain related to cancer.