Background: Many cancer patients seek traditional Chinese medicine
(TCM), the prevalence varying with diagnosis, comorbidities, and demographics.
Interventions sought include acupuncture, massage, herbs, diet, and exercise,
usually combined with conventional therapies. It is not known what proportion of
TCM practitioners care for cancer patients, their cancer specific training or
caseload, what interventions they employ, their outcomes, and their
communication patterns with conventional oncologists. Methods: A
survey was mailed to all 2213 licensed acupuncturists in the 9-county San
Francisco Bay Area gathering descriptive statistics. Results: A
total of 472 (21%) responded by mail or web-based Research Electronic Data
Capture (REDCap) tool. Most respondents (77%) reported caring for patients with
cancer, with 29% reporting having 6 to 10 years of practice experience, and
44.2% having 0 to 20 hours of training specific to the needs of patients with
cancer. Improving quality of life was reported by 94% as what their treatment
offered cancer patients as well as the area where treatment was felt to have the
greatest impact. The most useful TCM modalities were acupuncture (98%), herbs
(79%), diet (72%), moxibustion (46%), and meditation instruction (44%). Absence
of adverse reactions was noted by 95%. Ninety-one percent reported “never” or
“hardly ever” having been contacted by patients’ oncologists to discuss
treatment. Conclusions: Many acupuncturists seeing cancer patients
have significant clinical experience and have sought specialized training.
Improved communication is needed between TCM practitioners and oncologists
sharing care of cancer patients.