Abstract
Acupuncture and related therapies such as moxibustion and transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation are often used to manage cancer-related symptoms, but their effectiveness and safety are controversial. We conducted this overview to summarise the evidence on acupuncture for palliative care of cancer. Our systematic review synthesised the results from clinical trials of patients with any type of cancer. The methodological quality of the 23 systematic reviews in this overview, assessed using the Methodological Quality of Systematic Reviews Instrument, was found to be satisfactory. There is evidence for the therapeutic effects of acupuncture for the management of cancer-related fatigue, chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting and leucopenia in patients with cancer. There is conflicting evidence regarding the treatment of cancer-related pain, hot flashes and hiccups, and improving patients’ quality of life. The available evidence is currently insufficient to support or refute the potential of acupuncture and related therapies in the management of xerostomia, dyspnea and lymphedema and in the improvement of psychological well-being. No serious adverse effects were reported in any study. Because acupuncture appears to be relatively safe, it could be considered as a complementary form of palliative care for cancer, especially for clinical problems for which conventional care options are limited.
Highlights
Network extends palliative care across the entire disease trajectory
Posadzki and colleagues[9] reviewed seven randomised controlled trials (RCTs) that assessed the effectiveness of acupuncture and related therapies in the treatment of cancer-related fatigue (CRF) and concluded that the risk of bias (RoB) amongst the included RCTs was too high for any reliable conclusions to be drawn
We conducted an up-to-date overview of systematic reviews (SRs) to evaluate the methodological quality of SRs and meta-analyses of acupuncture for management of symptoms for palliative care of cancer and to describe the clinical evidence reported in these SRs and meta-analyses
Summary
Network extends palliative care across the entire disease trajectory. Based on this concept, cancer palliative care focuses on the treatment of cancer-related symptoms such as pain, fatigue and insomnia, and on relief of the side effects of chemotherapy or radiotherapy such as nausea, vomiting, leukopenia and xerostomia[3]. The existing systematic reviews (SRs) have summarised the evidence on the use of acupuncture and related therapies for the management of various cancer-related symptoms, including nausea and vomiting[6,7], cancer-related pain (CRP)[7,8] and fatigue[7,9] Posadzki and colleagues[9] reviewed seven randomised controlled trials (RCTs) that assessed the effectiveness of acupuncture and related therapies in the treatment of cancer-related fatigue (CRF) and concluded that the risk of bias (RoB) amongst the included RCTs was too high for any reliable conclusions to be drawn Another SR7 suggested that acupuncture is useful for the reduction of fatigue on the basis of one well-designed RCT. We conducted an up-to-date overview of SRs to evaluate the methodological quality of SRs and meta-analyses of acupuncture for management of symptoms for palliative care of cancer and to describe the clinical evidence reported in these SRs and meta-analyses
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