A Cochrane systematic review of acupuncture for cancer pain in adults

Paley, Carole A; Tashani, Osama A.; Bagnall, Anne‐Marie; Johnson, Mark I.

doi:10.1136/bmjspcare-2011-000022

Cited by 22 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…In fact, many integrative oncologists have adopted acupuncture as a complementary or alternative medicine. Furthermore, evidence-based research increasingly shows that acupuncture can relieve many uncontrollable symptoms, including cancer pain 15,16 (noted as evidence level I), chemotherapy-related side effects, 1,17,18 hot flush or arthralgia related to hormone therapy, 19,20 and xerostomia relevant to radiotherapy. 21,22 With regard to neuropathy, acupuncture has been widely used in diabetes-related neuropathy 23,24 and carpal tunnel syndrome, 25,26 as well as CIPN.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Efficacy of Acupuncture in Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

et al. 2019

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Background: Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) has no cure, but acupuncture may provide relief through its known neuromodulation or neuroendocrine adjustment. This review aimed to assess the efficacy of acupuncture in treating CIPN. Method: A literature review following the PRISMA Statement was performed, searching 7 databases from inception through August 2019. All studies were clinical trials of the effect of acupuncture on CIPN. The methodological quality of these trials was assessed using Cochrane criteria; meta-analysis software (RevMan 5.2) was used to analyze the data. Data Sources: The databases searched were the following: MEDLINE (Ovid), Embase, Cochrane CENTRAL, Scopus, World Health Organization International Clinical Trials Registry Platform, CNKI (China National Knowledge Infrastructure), and Wanfang Med Online. Results: We examined 386 cancer patients from 6 randomized control trials, which had high quality, based on the modified Jadad scale. Meta-analysis showed that acupuncture led to significant improvements in pain scores (−1.21, 95% confidence interval [CI] = −1.61 to −0.82, P < .00001) and nervous system symptoms based on Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy/Neurotoxicity questionnaire scores (−2.02, 95% CI = −2.21 to −1.84, P < .00001). No significant change was noted in nerve conduction velocity (1.58, 95% CI = −2.67 to 5.83, P = .47). Conclusion: Acupuncture can effectively relieve CIPN pain and functional limitation. The limited number of subjects warrants a larger scale study.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Efficacy of Acupuncture in Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

et al. 2019

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“…8 - 10 Although acupuncture has been clinically proven to relieve various types of pain such as chronic low back pain or tension-type headache, 11 , 12 the recent Cochrane Reviews on acupuncture for cancer pain still demand well-designed clinical trials to provide evidence for effectiveness of acupuncture for cancer pain. 13 , 14 However, a complete double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial is very challenging in acupuncture treatment, as in many trials of nonpharmacological pain management. 15 …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intradermal Acupuncture Along with Analgesics for Pain Control in Advanced Cancer Cases: A Pilot, Randomized, Patient-Assessor-Blinded, Controlled Trial

Kim

Lee

2018

Integr Cancer Ther

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Purpose: Ninety percent of patients with advanced cancer have moderate to severe pain, and up to 70% of patients with cancer pain do not receive adequate pain relief. This randomized controlled clinical trial was designed to determine the feasibility and evaluate the effects and safety of intradermal acupuncture (IA) in patients who were being administered analgesics for cancer pain. Methods: Advanced cancer patients experiencing pain were randomly assigned to IA or sham IA treatment for 3 weeks (15 patients for each group), wherein the CV12, bilateral ST25, LI4, LR3, PC06, and Ashi points were selected and stimulated. Follow-up evaluations were conducted 3 weeks after the end of treatments. The grade and dosage of analgesics for cancer pain, pain intensity, quality of life, and safety were assessed. Results: Twenty-seven patients (90%) completed 6-week trial, and no serious adverse events were associated with either IA or sham IA procedures except the transient side effect such as fatigue. Nine patients in the IA group (64.3%) and 5 in the sham IA group (38.5%) responded to the 3-week intervention. These patients were mostly in the nonopioid and the weak opioid levels of the World Health Organization analgesic ladder. Self-reported pain declined by −1.54 ± 1.45 and −1.15 ± 1.57 in the IA and sham IA groups, respectively, with improved quality of life reported. Conclusions: IA treatment appears feasible and safe for advanced cancer patients. It might reduce analgesic usage in the early World Health Organization analgesic ladder stage cancer patient, though it could not show significant outcome differences due to design limitation of sham IA.

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“…However, the review by Lee et al [ 9 ] included non-RCT studies. The review by Paley et al [ 10 ] just included three randomized clinical trials (RCTs) and is now outdated. The review by Peng et al [ 11 ] included seven RCTs but did not use meta-analysis.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Acupuncture for Pain Management in Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Zhang²,

Wu³

et al. 2016

Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine

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Objective. To evaluate the effectiveness and safety of acupuncture for cancer-related pain. Methods. A systematic review of literatures published from database inception to February 2015 was conducted in eight databases. RCTs involving acupuncture for treatment of cancer-related pain were identified. Two researchers independently performed article selection, data extraction, and quality assessment of data. Results. 1,639 participants in twenty RCTs were analyzed. All selected RCTs were associated with high risk of bias. Meta-analysis indicated that acupuncture alone did not have superior pain-relieving effects as compared with conventional drug therapy. However, as compared with the drug therapy alone, acupuncture plus drug therapy resulted in increased pain remission rate, shorter onset time of pain relief, longer pain-free duration, and better quality of life without serious adverse effects. However, GRADE analysis revealed that the quality of all outcomes about acupuncture plus drug therapy was very low. Conclusions. Acupuncture plus drug therapy is more effective than conventional drug therapy alone for cancer-related pain. However, multicenter high-quality RCTs with larger sample sizes are needed to provide stronger evidence for the effectiveness of acupuncture in cancer-related pain due to the low data quality of the studies included in the current meta-analysis.

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A Cochrane systematic review of acupuncture for cancer pain in adults

Abstract: There is insufficient evidence to judge whether acupuncture is effective in treating cancer pain in adults.

Cited by 22 publications

References 37 publications

The Efficacy of Acupuncture in Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

The Efficacy of Acupuncture in Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Intradermal Acupuncture Along with Analgesics for Pain Control in Advanced Cancer Cases: A Pilot, Randomized, Patient-Assessor-Blinded, Controlled Trial

Acupuncture for Pain Management in Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

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