Acupuncture Q & A: This Month's Highlights from the "Ask an Acupuncturist" Forum www.acupuncturetoday.com The "Ask an Acupuncturist" forum provides a place for interested parties to ask questions about acupuncture and Oriental medicine and have them answered by a licensed acupuncturist. This month's questions: Question #1: Has acupuncture been used is the treatment of cancer and if so, is there a success rate? Answer: In the U.S., the treatment of cancer by acupuncture is not allowed, but the symptoms caused by the cancer can be treated here with acupuncture. The only treatment that is allowed for cancer in the U.S. must legally be that which is provided by an MD, usually including the standard allopathic treatment. In China, it is a different story. There, cancer is treated with acupuncture. There are clinics and hospitals devoted to treating cancer with acupuncture. All cancers are treatable, but success varies according to the type of cancer (and the patient); also the definition of "success." Success is not only the remission of the cancer, but also the prolongation of life despite the cancer, until death occurs due to another cause. For instance, esophageal cancer responds quite well to acupuncture treatment, but lung cancer does not. Chinese herbal medicines are also used in the treatment of cancer, as are exercises such as chi kung and tai chi. Electroacupuncture for Control of Myeloablative Chemotherapy–Induced Emesis A Randomized Controlled Trial Joannie Shen, MD, MPH; Neil Wenger, MD, MPH; John Glaspy, MD, MPH; Ron D. Hays, PhD; Paul S. Albert, PhD; Christina Choi, OMD; Paul G. Shekelle, MD, PhD Context High-dose chemotherapy poses considerable challenges to emesis management. Although prior studies suggest that acupuncture may reduce nausea and emesis, it is unclear whether such benefit comes from the nonspecific effects of attention and clinician-patient interaction. Objective To compare the effectiveness of electroacupuncture vs minimal needling and mock electrical stimulation or antiemetic medications alone in controlling emesis among patients undergoing a highly emetogenic chemotherapy regimen. Design Three-arm, parallel-group, randomized controlled trial conducted from March 1996 to December 1997, with a 5-day study period and a 9-day follow-up. Setting Oncology center at a university medical center. Patients One hundred four women (mean age, 46 years) with high-risk breast cancer. Interventions Patients were randomly assigned to receive low-frequency electroacupuncture at classic antiemetic acupuncture points once daily for 5 days (n = 37); minimal needling at control points with mock electrostimulation on the same schedule (n = 33); or no adjunct needling (n = 34). All patients received concurrent triple antiemetic pharmacotherapy and high-dose chemotherapy (cyclophosphamide, cisplatin, and carmustine). Main Outcome Measures Total number of emesis episodes occurring during the 5-day study period and the proportion of emesis-free days, compared among the 3 groups. Results The number of emesis episodes occurring during the 5 days was lower for patients receiving electroacupuncture compared with those receiving minimal needling or pharmacotherapy alone (median number of episodes, 5, 10, and 15, respectively; P<.001). The electroacupuncture group had fewer episodes of emesis than the minimal needling group (P<.001), whereas the minimal needling group had fewer episodes of emesis than the antiemetic pharmacotherapy alone group (P = .01). The differences among groups were not significant during the 9-day follow-up period (P = .18). Conclusions In this study of patients with breast cancer receiving high-dose chemotherapy, adjunct electroacupuncture was more effective in controlling emesis than minimal needling or antiemetic pharmacotherapy alone, although the observed effect had limited duration. JAMA. 2000;284:2755-2761 Am Heart Association Scientific Sessions, 2001 conference J Applied Physiology, 2/02 Harefuah, 7/02 Can Acupuncture & Chinese Herbs Treat Cancer? Acupuncture for Postchemo Fatigue Acupuncture for Pts at Risk of Chemo Nausea (emesis) BENEFIT Electro-Acupoint Stimulation v. Ondansetron v. Placebo Infrared Imaging after Acupuncture for Cancer Integrative Oncology w/Acupuncture P6 Acupressure on Chemo Nausea/Vomiting Acupuncture & Joint symptoms of Aromatase Inhibitors Acupuncture for Chemo-brain? Acupuncture Reduces Pain, Need for Opioids after Surgery Palliat Med, 4/96 Palliat Med, 5/02 Growing Interest in CAM - Society for Integrative Oncology J Altern Complement Md, 6/01 Tumori, 3-4/02 Cancer, 2/02 Pediatrics, 4/00 Acupuncture & Pain Autonomic Neuroscience, 3/07 Complement Thera in Med, 9/03 Complement Thera in Med, 6/03 Presented at Am Soc Thera Rad & Onc, 11/01 Canadian Assoc Rad Onc, 110/02 LINK to site w/info for practitioners and patients newsletters are archived No Am Res Conf on Complementary & Integrative Medicine, May, 2006 No Am Res Conf on Complementary & Integrative Medicine, May, 2006 J Altern Complement Med, 2007; 13(6): 669-76. August 2007 Various abstracts SIO, 11/06 Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice, 5/06 Oncol Nurs Forum, 2007 Remember we are NOT Doctors and have NO medical training. This site is like an Encylopedia - there are many pages, many links on many topics. Support our work with any size DONATION - see left side of any page - for how to donate. You can help raise awareness of CAM.