An important element of traditional Chinese medicine, Acupuncture is gaining great strides in helping people with cancer.
Many patients experience alleviation from symptoms including pain, nausea, fatigue, hot flashes and even effects of anxiety and stress. Acupuncture also has very important roles in supporting the immune system and controlling disease by keeping the body in balance and the meridian channels flowing.
An acupuncturist gently inserts very fine, sterile needles through the skin at select points on the body. For those that do not want to use needles, laser can be utilized along with acupressure to target the points around the body.
Please discuss with our staff if you are interested in acupuncture.
Studies & further reading
Selected publications for patients who want to explore the research. Each finding applies to the study’s own population, protocol and stage of evidence; your care team can help you understand what may be relevant to you.
Among 226 postmenopausal patients with early breast cancer and joint pain while taking an aromatase inhibitor, acupuncture reduced pain more than sham acupuncture or a waitlist at six weeks. The average between-group difference was about one point on a ten-point scale, so the clinical importance was uncertain. This is evidence about symptom management, not cancer control.
This randomized trial evaluated electro-acupuncture during adjuvant chemotherapy for gastric cancer and reported encouraging quality-of-life findings.
This case report describes neurological recovery during a multidisciplinary treatment course that included targeted immunotherapy and later electro-acupuncture. It presents an individual clinical experience for further study.
This review explores immune modulation and tumour-microenvironment pathways being studied in acupuncture and moxibustion research.