Acupuncture Research at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Abstract

Acupuncture may help treat specific cancer-related symptoms. Here, we summarize our clinical trials that sought to determine acupuncture's role in managing cancer-related symptoms. Trials have been conducted to determine acupuncture's ability to mitigate cancer-related symptoms including dyspnea, fatigue, xerostomia, lymphedema, hot flashes, postoperative ileus, pain and dysfunction after neck dissection, and postthoracotomy pain. Published studies indicate that acupuncture versus placebo acupuncture failed to reduce cancer-related dyspnea. Both true and sham acupuncture alleviated fatigue slightly, but no significant differences between groups emerged. Compared with sham acupuncture, our research showed that acupuncture significantly improved saliva production in patients with xerostomia and significantly reduced lymphedema patients' arm circumference in a pilot study. However, acupuncture failed to significantly reduce hot flashes and was no more successful than sham acupuncture in reducing postoperative ileus. Significant reductions in pain and dysfunction occurred in cancer patients after neck dissection. In a feasibility study, acupuncture was found to be acceptable to lung cancer patients and did not interfere with standard postoperative care. In summary, acupuncture is a potential candidate for the treatment of some important cancer-related symptoms. Large clinical trials and research to investigate mechanistic pathways are warranted.

Fatigue in lung cancer patients: symptom burden and management of challenges

“… 59 , 60 The administration of ESA can relieve CRF, but only in anemic patients undergoing chemotherapy. 58 Natural remedies such as ginseng, 61 – 64 cognitive behavioral therapeutic approaches, psychoeducation, topical counseling, 83 , 84 energy conservation as MBSR, 85 , 86 acupuncture, 87 – 89 acupressure, 90 hypnosis, yoga, massage therapy, and Tai Chi exercise, 91 – 93 have been described as valuable aids in the treatment of CRF in LC patients. Physical exercise is a nonpharmacological treatment for fatigue, with more evidence in LC at any stage.…”

“…Some studies showed that acupuncture could relieve pain, fatigue, and dyspnea in LC patients during all phases of the disease. 87 – 89 Acupressure has been evaluated in two studies for its effect on CRF reaching interesting results. A pilot trial evaluated the effects of acupressure on fatigue in 57 LC patients receiving six cycles of chemotherapy: they were randomized into three groups, one with acupressure with essential oils, a second with only acupressure, and a third group with sham acupressure.…”

Effect of acupuncture on lung cancer-related fatigue: study protocol for a multi-center randomized controlled trial

“…Recently, several studies have shown that acupuncture can effectively improve the symptoms of CRF [32–36]. However, there is currently a lack of multi-center, large-sample, sham-controlled, RCTs in CRF [29, 37]. In this study protocol, we designed a randomized, multi-center, sham-controlled, patient and assessor blinded trial (Additional file 1).…”

Effect of Acupuncture on Lung Cancer-Related Fatigue: Study Protocol for a Multi-center Randomized Controlled Trial

“…Recently, several studies have shown that acupuncture can effectively improve the symptom of CRF [32][33][34][35][36]. However, there is currently a lack of multi-center, large sample and shamcontrolled, randomized clinical trials for CRF [ 29,37]. In this study protocol, we designed a randomized, multi-center, sham-controlled, patient and assessor blind trial.…”