Acupuncture for symptom reduction in myeloma patients undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation: A randomized, sham-controlled trial.

Abstract

8021 Background: Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HCT) is a potentially curative treatment for a number of hematologic malignancies, but is associated with a high symptom burden for patients. We conducted a randomized sham-controlled trial to evaluate the preliminary efficacy and safety of acupuncture as an integrative treatment for managing common symptoms during HCT. Methods: Adult patients with multiple myeloma undergoing high dose melphalan followed by autologous peripheral blood HCT were randomized to receive either true or sham acupuncture once daily for five days starting on the day after chemotherapy. Symptom burden was assessed with the MD Anderson Symptom Inventory (MDASI) at baseline, during transplantation, and at 15 and 30 days after transplantation. Results: Among 60 participants, symptoms that are significantly reduced by true acupuncture more than sham acupuncture at 15 days include the following: nausea, lack of appetite, and drowsiness (p = 0.042, 0.025, and 0.010, respectively). Patients receiving sham acupuncture were more likely to increase use of pain medication post-transplantation (odds ratio 5.31, p = 0.017). Acupuncture was well tolerated with few attributable adverse events. Conclusions: True acupuncture may prevent escalation of symptoms including nausea, lack of appetite, and drowsiness experienced by patients undergoing autologous HCT, and to reduce the use of pain medications. These findings need to be confirmed in a future definitive study. Clinical trial information: NCT01811862.