Acupuncture and Massage: Effective Pain Management in Advanced Cancer
8/1/20242 min read
Study reveals acupuncture and massage as effective pain management in advanced cancer
Introduction
In a recent clinical trial published in JAMA Network Open, researchers from the United States of America (USA) assessed and compared the effectiveness of acupuncture and massage therapy for musculoskeletal pain in 298 patients with advanced cancer. They found that both treatments could reduce pain, fatigue, and insomnia in patients while improving their quality of life (QoL) over 26 weeks.
Background
The QoL of about 67% of patients with advanced cancer is hampered by pain, a debilitating symptom that often presents with fatigue and insomnia. Although the treatment of pain in these patients relies majorly on the use of opioids, the ongoing opioid crisis limits the prescription of and access to these drugs. Additionally, the potential side effects of such medications underscore the increased need and preference for alternative therapies for pain management.
The 2022 guidelines from the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the Society for Integrative Oncology recommend using acupuncture and massage for oncologic pain management. Evidence suggests that acupuncture is effective in treating pain in cancer survivors, but there’s a dearth of studies explicitly conducted on patients with advanced cancer. The long-term benefits of massage in cancer pain management have also not been thoroughly investigated or compared with those of acupuncture.
Given the increased life expectancy now offered by advancements in treatment modalities for cancer, healthcare providers must make evidence-based, informed decisions to potentially integrate nonpharmacologic therapies for managing pain in patients. Addressing this need, researchers in the present study conducted a randomized clinical trial to evaluate and compare the long-term effectiveness of massage and acupuncture in treating pain, fatigue, and insomnia in patients with advanced cancer.
Conclusion
The study's findings provide valuable evidence of the long-term effectiveness of acupuncture and massage in reducing pain and associated symptoms in patients with advanced cancer, indicating their potential benefits as integrative modalities for improving patient outcomes.The full article written by Dr Sushama. R. Chaphalkar can be found here
Journal reference:
Acupuncture vs massage for pain in patients living with advanced cancer: The IMPACT randomized clinical trial. Epstein AS et al., JAMA Network Open, 6(11):e2342482 (2023), DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.42482,