Skip to main content

Acupuncture and Cancer Pain

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Essentials of Interventional Cancer Pain Management

Abstract

Acupuncture is one of the oldest forms of medical treatment in the world and is commonly used to treat pain. There is some evidence to suggest that acupuncture is more efficacious than sham acupuncture and placebo in the treatment of pain. Despite the lack of definitive evidence, acupuncture is often used to treat cancer-related pain. Common uses of acupuncture include treatment of aromatase inhibitor-induced musculoskeletal pain, chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy, and cancer-induced bone pain. Complications of acupuncture are rare and usually minor, making it a safe method for the treatment of pain in cancer patients.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 149.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 199.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Unschuld P. Medicine in China: a history of ideas. Berkeley: University of California Press; 1985.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Birtch S, Felt R. Understanding acupuncture. London: Churchill Livingstone; 1999.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Manioca G. The foundations of Chinese medicine. London: Churchill Livingstone; 1989.

    Google Scholar 

  4. Burke A, Upchurch DM, Chyu L. Acupuncture use in the United States: findings from the National Health Interview Survey. J Altern Complement Med. 2006;12(7):639–48.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Vickers AJ, Linde K. Acupuncture for chronic pain. JAMA. 2014;311(9):955–6.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Paley CA, Johnson MI, Tashani OA, Bagnall A. Acupuncture for cancer pain in adults. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2015;10:CD007753.

    Google Scholar 

  7. Paley CA, Tashani OA, Bagnall AM, Johnson MI. A Cochrane systematic review of acupuncture for cancer pain in adults. BMJ Support Palliat Care. 2011;1(1):51–5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Alimi D, Rubino C, Pichard-Leandri E, Fermand-Brule S, Dubreuil-Lemaire M, Hill C. Analgesic effect of auricular acupuncture for cancer pain: a randomized, blinded, controlled trial. J Clin Oncol. 2003;21(22):4120–6.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Dang W, Yang J. Clinical study on acupuncture treatment of stomach carcinoma pain. J Tradit Chin Med. 1998;18(1):31–8.

    Google Scholar 

  10. Chen ZJ, Guo YP, Wu ZC. Observation on the therapeutic effect of acupuncture at pain points on cancer pain. Zhongguo Zhen Jiu [Chinese Acupuncture & Moxibusion]. 2008;28(4):251–3.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Chen H, Liu TQ, Zhu J, Wu CJ, Liu LM. Electroacupuncture treatment for pancreatic cancer pain: a randomized controlled trial. Pancreatology. 2013;13(6):594–7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Lu W, Matulonis UA, Dunn JE, Lee H, Doherty-Gilman A, Dean-Clower E, et al. The feasibility and effects of acupuncture on quality of life scores during chemotherapy in ovarian cancer: results from a pilot-randomized sham-controlled trial. Med Acupunct. 2012;24(4):233–40.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Cabyoglu MT, Ergene N, Tan U. The mechanism of acupuncture and clinical applications. The mechanism of acupuncture and clinical applications. Int J Neurosci. 2006;116(2):115–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Goldman N, Chen M, Fujita T, Xu Q, Peng W, Liu W, Jensen TK, Pei Y, Wang F, Han X, Chen J, Schnermann J, Taano T, Bekar L, Tieu K, Nedergaard M. Adenosine A1 receptors mediate local anti-nociceptive effects of acupuncture. Nat Neurosci. 2010;13(7):883–8.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Chae Y, Chang DS, Lee SH, Jung WM, Lee IS, Jackson S, Kong J, Lee H, Park HJ, Lee H, Wallraven C. Inserting needle into the body: a meta-analysis of brain activity associated with acupuncture needle stimulation. J Pain. 2013;14(3):215–22.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Otti A, Noll-Hussong M. Acupuncture-induced pain relief and the human brain’s default mode network—an extended view of central effects of acupuncture analgesia. Forsch Komplementmed 2012;19($):197–201.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Yamashita H, Tsukayama H, Tanno Y, Nishijo K. Adverse events in acupuncture and moxibustion treatment: a six-year survey at a national clinic in Japan. J Altern Complement Med. 1999;5(3):229.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. MacPherson H, Thomas K, Walters S, Fitter M. The York acupuncture safety study: prospective survey of 34,000 treatments by traditional acupuncturists. BMJ. 2001;323(7311):486.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Filshie J, Hester J. Guidelines for providing acupuncture treatment for cancer patients- a peer-reviewed sample policy document. Acupunct Med. 2006;24(4):172–82.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Bae K, Yoo HS, Lamoury G, Boye F, Rosenthal DS, Oh B. Acupuncture for aromatase inhibitor-induced arthralgia: a systematic review. Integr Cancer Ther. 2015;14(6):496–502.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Presant CA, Bosserman L, Young T, Vakil M, Horns R, Upadhyaya G, Ebrahimi B, Yeon C, Howard F. Aromatase ingibitor-associated arthralgia and/or bone pain: frequency and characterization in non-clinical trial patients. Clin Breast Cancer. 2007;7(10):775.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Bao T, Cai L, Giles JT, Gould J, Tarpinian K, Betts K, Medeiros M, Jeter S, Tait N, Chumsri S, Armstrong DK, Tan M, Fokerd E, Dowsett M, Singh H, Tkaczuk K, Stearns V. A dual-center randomized controlled double blind trial assessing the effect of acupuncture in reducing musculoskeletal symptoms in breast cancer patients taking aromatase inhibitors. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2013;138(1):167–74.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Crew KD, Capodice JL, Greenlee H, Brafman L, Fuentes D, Awad D, Tsai WY, Hershman DL. Randomized, blinded, sham-controlled trial of acupuncture for the management of aromatase-inhibitor-associated joint symptoms in women with early-stage breast cancer. J Clin Oncol. 2010;28(7):1154–60.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Franconi G, Manni L, Schroder S, Marchetti P, Robinson N. A systematic review of experimental and clinical acupuncture in chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2013: Article ID 516917, 7 pages.

    Google Scholar 

  25. Zhang RX, Li A, Liu B, Wang L, Xin J, Ren K, Qiao JT, Berman BM, Lao L. Electroacupunctur attenuates bone-cancer-induced hyperalgesia and inhibits spinal preprodynorphin expression in a rat model. Eur J Pain. 2008;12(7):870–8.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Zhang RX, Li A, Liu B, Wang L, Ren K, Qiao JT, Berman BM, Lao L. Electroacupuncture attenuates bone cancer pain and inhibits spinal interleukin-1 beta expression in a rat model. Anesth Analg. 2007;105(5):1482–8.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Paley CA, Bennett MI, Johnson MI. Acupuncture for cancer-induced bone pain? Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2011: Article ID 671043, 8 pages.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yan Cui Magram .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Magram, Y.C., Deng, G.E. (2019). Acupuncture and Cancer Pain. In: Gulati, A., Puttanniah, V., Bruel, B., Rosenberg, W., Hung, J. (eds) Essentials of Interventional Cancer Pain Management. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-99684-4_52

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-99684-4_52

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-99682-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-99684-4

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics