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.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Unschuld P. Medicine in China: a history of ideas. Berkeley: University of California Press; 1985.
Birtch S, Felt R. Understanding acupuncture. London: Churchill Livingstone; 1999.
Manioca G. The foundations of Chinese medicine. London: Churchill Livingstone; 1989.
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.
Vickers AJ, Linde K. Acupuncture for chronic pain. JAMA. 2014;311(9):955–6.
Paley CA, Johnson MI, Tashani OA, Bagnall A. Acupuncture for cancer pain in adults. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2015;10:CD007753.
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.
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.
Dang W, Yang J. Clinical study on acupuncture treatment of stomach carcinoma pain. J Tradit Chin Med. 1998;18(1):31–8.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Paley CA, Bennett MI, Johnson MI. Acupuncture for cancer-induced bone pain? Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2011: Article ID 671043, 8 pages.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
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)