A new acupuncture cancer pain research study found that acupuncture reduced pain in cancer survivors. The study was a collaboration with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, the University of California at San Diego, and the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Pennsylvania. The researchers concluded that acupuncture produced superior patient outcomes compared with usual care.
Acupuncture Cancer Pain Research
Investigators measured pain severity levels over a 12-week treatment period with patients receiving electro or auricular (ear) acupuncture. Both groups received ten sessions, administered once a week. Both the electroacupuncture and auricular acupuncture groups experienced reductions in the severity of musculoskeletal pain. However, electroacupuncture had a much higher effective rate.
The researchers started this investigation hoping to find alternatives to opioids for chronic pain. They referred to a meta-analysis of over 18,000 patients, which demonstrated that acupuncture was superior to both usual care and placebo controls to manage non-cancer pain.[2,3]
In another study, investigators demonstrated that acupuncture was a successful medical intervention for treating cancer-related pain.[4] Given these prior studies, the research team initiated this acupuncture cancer pain research study. The researchers also correctly noted that the US Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services had recently added acupuncture coverage for the treatment of back pain.
Electro and Auricular Acupuncture
Electroacupuncture enhances naturally occurring opioid production in the body. This technique requires the skills of a board-certified acupuncturist. Alternatively, healthcare workers with significantly less training can administer basic auricular acupuncture.
The US Veterans Health Administration currently utilizes a simplified version of auricular acupuncture. Furthermore, the US military calls this approach “battlefield acupuncture” and employs it in combat situations. A streamlined style of auricular acupuncture is more accessible because lesser trained medical staff can administer the therapy.
Investigators ran this acupuncture cancer pain research study as a 3-arm, parallel, randomized clinical trial. The results demonstrated that electro and auricular acupuncture reduced cancer patients’ pain levels more than usual care.
Study Details
Licensed acupuncturists with a minimum of five years of clinical experience in oncology provided electroacupuncture. They selected four acupuncture points local to pain plus four additional acupoints to address other symptoms. Practitioners chose angles and depths based on acupuncture standards and accessed “de qi” on all points (eliciting an “achy” feeling around the needle). [5]
Participants received ten acupuncture treatments over ten weeks for both groups. The acupuncturists utilized ear acupuncture points: shenmen, point zero, thalamus, and omega two, with each auricular acupuncture session lasting 10–20 minutes.
Usual care consisted of standard pain management prescribed by healthcare professionals, including analgesic medications, steroid injection therapy, and physical therapy.
Conclusions
This acupuncture cancer pain research study demonstrated that electroacupuncture and auricular acupuncture outperform usual care. In addition, electroacupuncture surpassed ear acupuncture as a pain relief therapy. The researchers noted that Medicare currently only covers acupuncture for lower back pain. They felt strongly that acupuncture insurance coverage for conditions beyond lower back pain was essential, allowing cancer survivors better options to opioid pain medication.
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References
[1] Mao, Jun J., Kevin T. Liou, Raymond E. Baser, Ting Bao, Katherine S. Panageas, Sally AD Romero, Q. Susan Li, Rollin M. Gallagher, and Philip W. Kantoff. “Effectiveness of Electroacupuncture or Auricular Acupuncture vs. Usual Care for Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain Among Cancer Survivors: The PEACE Randomized Clinical Trial.” JAMA oncology (2021).
[2] Vickers AJ, Cronin AM, Maschino AC, et al; Acupuncture Trialists’ Collaboration. Acupuncture for chronic pain: individual patient data
meta-analysis. Arch Intern Med. 2012;172(19): 1444-1453.
[3] Vickers AJ, Vertosick EA, Lewith G, et al.; Acupuncture Trialists’ Collaboration. Acupuncture for chronic pain: update of an individual patient data meta-analysis. J Pain. 2018;19(5):455-474.
[4] He Y, Guo X, May BH, et al. Clinical evidence for association of acupuncture and acupressure with improved cancer pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA Oncol. 2020;6(2):271-278.
[5] Mao, Jun J., Kevin T. Liou, Raymond E. Baser, Ting Bao, Katherine S. Panageas, Sally AD Romero, Q. Susan Li, Rollin M. Gallagher, and Philip W. Kantoff. “Effectiveness of Electroacupuncture or Auricular Acupuncture vs. Usual Care for Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain Among Cancer Survivors: The PEACE Randomized Clinical Trial.” JAMA oncology (2021).
