Cancer Pain and Acupuncture

Dang W et al. [Clinical study on acupuncture treatment of pain caused by stomach cancer.] Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 1995, 36(5):277–280 [in Chinese].

Randomized controlled trial comparing Acupuncture and Western medication (codeine, pethidine)
Acupuncture treatment had:
• Immediate analgesic effect similar to Western medication
• More marked analgesic effect than Western medication after long-term use for 2 months.

 

Dan Y et al. [Clinical study on analgesic effect of acupuncture on carcinomatous pain.] Chinese Acupuncture and Moxibustion, 1998, 18(1):17–18 [in Chinese].

The trial used acupuncture or acupuncture plus medication (analgesic steps recommended by WHO)
An analgesic effect was observed in:
• 50.0% of the medication group
• 73.0% of the acupuncture group
• 92.2% of acupuncture plus medication group.

 

The Effect of Relaxation and Reducing Distress on Cancer Pain

Patients with psychological distress report the greatest benefit from acupuncture.

Acupuncture – National Institutes of Health (US)
http://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT00034034Research not finished yet, but reported:

“End-stage colorectal cancer is associated with physical and psychological symptoms that negatively affect patients' quality of life (QOL). Nonpharmacological interventions that promote relaxation and reduce psychological distress are associated with a reduction of pain suggesting that psychological distress and anxiety may mediate the relationship between symptom severity and QOL. Pilot data from a sample of 28 end-stage cancer patients supports the mediational role of psychological distress in the symptom severity - QOL relationship. The results indicated that the mere presence or absence of a physical symptom is not related to patient QOL. Rather, greater symptom severity was associated with significantly poorer QOL, and when the effects of psychological distress were controlled, the relationships between symptom severity and QOL were no longer significant. Acupuncture has been used successfully with end-of-life populations (EOL) to reduce pain and shortness of breath [4]. Patients with psychological distress report the greatest benefit from acupuncture.”

Treating Cancer Pain with Chinese Herbs

Reduces pain, especially in terminal stages.

Cancer Chemotherapy with Oriental Medicine (II) Clinical Experiments of Oriental Medicine with Anti-tumor Crude Drugs. A. SatoInternational Journal of Oriental Medicine 1991;1:34-43

Chinese herbs served to improve symptoms of chemotherapy and prolong life. Characteristics include reduction of side effects caused by chemotherapeutic drugs and radiation therapy (i.e., increases in leukocytes, erythrocytes and thrombocytes), improvement of digestive functions (i.e. improvement of hepatic function) improvement of renal function, reduction of pain, enhancement of immunofunctions, and especially, decreased pain in the terminal stage.