Objective: to analyze and synthesize knowledge about the effect of acupuncture on chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy symptoms in adults with cancer. Method: the method used was a Systematic Review. Potential articles were identified by searching in the PubMed of National Library of Medicine, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Embase, Cochrane Central and Scopus. Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses strategy, 607 articles were identified. After removing the duplicates, all titles and abstracts were reviewed, and seven articles were selected for full review. After the full review, five studies were selected for inclusion. Results: of the five articles included, four were cohort studies and one was a quasi-experimental study. All articles showed that acupuncture was associated with an improvement in the peripheral neuropathy, but the type of protocol, use of medications, time of treatment, and different outcome measures made it difficult to compare the studies. Conclusion: the use of acupuncture appears to be associated with an improvement in the symptoms of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy and has no side effects. In order to improve the evidence about benefits associated with acupuncture, more experimental studies using both subjective and objective measures are needed.

RESUMOObjetivo: descrever a ocorrência de neutropenia e seus graus em pacientes com câncer colorretal submetidos a tratamento quimioterápico adjuvante, bem como a avaliação de risco para o desenvolvimento de neutropenia febril pelo índice de risco da Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer. Método: trata-se de um estudo descritivo, transversal, com a utilização de dados secundários, por meio da revisão de prontuários em um hospital universitário público do interior paulista. Resultados: foram revisados 60 prontuários de pacientes, dos quais 41,7% apresentaram neutropenia. No total, foram identificados 49 episódios de neutropenia. Com relação à avaliação de risco, dos 41,7% pacientes que apresentaram neutropenia, 84% apresentaram baixo risco para o desenvolvimento de neutropenia febril. Conclusão: Os resultados deste estudo evidenciam que a neutropenia em pacientes com câncer colorretal tem uma ocorrência relativamente baixa em seus diferentes graus e possui baixo risco para o desenvolvimento de neutropenia febril.

Results: 499 articles were identified, of which 15 met the criteria for inclusion, published between 2006 and 2016 and analyzed in their entirety. Neutropenia was the most reported hematologic toxicity in 12 (80.0%) studies, and the second most common in three (20.0%), in varying degrees, being responsible for reducing and/or delaying of doses in six (40.0%) studies. Conclusion: the studies included in this review showed that neutropenia in patients with colorectal cancer in chemotherapy treatment have low incidences in different degrees, despite the significantly high rates of neutropenia associations, as the most common adverse event in the various analyzed regimes.

In this context, an extension group was created at a University of the Interior of the State of São Paulo, since 1990, composed of nurses, physician and physiotherapist, who develop activities with cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy, in order to alleviate the resulting symptoms of the treatment and provide improvement of the HRQoL of these patients during treatment.