Electroacupuncture for Nausea, Vomiting, and Myelosuppression in Women Receiving Adjuvant Chemotherapy for Early Breast Cancer: A Randomized Controlled Pilot Trial

Abstract

Background: Acupuncture has been demonstrated as an effective way to control nausea and vomiting induced by chemotherapy but has not been tested in conjunction with optimal use of antiemetic medication. Objective: The goal of this study was to explore the feasibility and safety of electroacupuncture (EA) for women with breast cancer, who were receiving chemotherapy. Design: The study was a randomized controlled pilot trial. Setting: This trial was conducted at a medical oncology clinic at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Patients: Thirty-two women with breast cancer were recruited from a medical oncology clinic between March 2008 and July 2009. Intervention: The intervention tested was true EA versus sham EA. Main Outcome Measures: The study tested the effect of EA on women with breast cancer who were receiving chemotherapy, with respect to nausea, vomiting, and blood cell counts. Results: All but 2 participants completed EA treatment; these two dropouts were 1 from the true EA group and 1 from the sham EA group. No adverse effects of EA were reported. There was no significant difference in nausea and vomiting between the groups. However, there were significant differences in adjusted white bloodcell and neutrophil counts at week 6 in the true EA group, compared to the sham EA group. Conclusions: The findings of this trial suggest that EA during chemotherapy is a promising option for controlling side-effects of chemotherapy. An adequately powered, randomized, controlled trial to confirm the effect of EA is, therefore, warranted.

Acupuncture for Treatment of Arthralgia Secondary to Aromatase Inhibitor Therapy in Women with Early Breast Cancer: Pilot Study

“…Findings from recent studies including our study suggest that use of acupuncture in risk or affect areas is safe when the treatment is performed by a qualified acupuncturist. [39][40][41] Secondly, this study provided important data on the effect size and power to appropriately design a larger RCT. This may include a double-blind design and individualised treatment.…”

Clinical practice guidelines on the evidence‐based use of integrative therapies during and after breast cancer treatment

“…Below are definitions listed alphabetically for each of the complementary and integrative therapies that received a grade of A, B, C, D, or H in the updated clinical practice guidelines . Table displays the graded recommendations . Table provides background information on the specific training, licensure, and professional organizations associated with each therapy .…”

“…One trial also used acupoint LI4 and found that electroacupuncture was no better than sham electroacupuncture and that a likely contributor to the lack of effect of electroacupuncture in CINV was the that the study evaluated only feasibility with a minimal electroacupuncture intervention and without a no-acupuncture arm. 64 The second trial indicated that the patients receiving electroacupuncture experienced significantly fewer emesis episodes over the 5 days of the acupressure intervention than the patients receiving mock therapy or antiemetics alone (P < .001). 65 Between-group differences in the number of emesis episodes were also significant for electroacupuncture versus minimal needling (P < .001) and for minimal needling versus antiemetics alone (P 5 .01).…”

“…Both trials used PC6 and ST36 acupoints and sham controls, and both trials evaluated the effects of these acupoints on acute and delayed CINV. One trial also used acupoint LI4 and found that electroacupuncture was no better than sham electroacupuncture and that a likely contributor to the lack of effect of electroacupuncture in CINV was the that the study evaluated only feasibility with a minimal electroacupuncture intervention and without a no‐acupuncture arm . The second trial indicated that the patients receiving electroacupuncture experienced significantly fewer emesis episodes over the 5 days of the acupressure intervention than the patients receiving mock therapy or antiemetics alone ( P < .001) .…”

“…,[26][27][28][29][30]33,35,[40][41][42][43][45][46][47][48][53][54][55][56]59,60,69,[72][73][74][75][76][77][78][79][80][81][82][83][84][85][86][87][88][89][90] Supporting Information Table 4, 27-29,43,46-48,73-75,82-85,[104][105][106]127,128 andSupporting Information Table 5[61][62][63][64][65].Table 3lists the clinical outcomes and integrative therapy combinations that had insufficient evidence to make a grade A, B, C, D, or H recommendation.26,33,36,37,40,43,[45][46][47][48][49][50]52,69,72,73,76,77,79,83,84,[87][88][89]94,97,104,108,111, 113,129,130,[133][134][135]138,139,149, …”