Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2015 Jun 1;27(3):151-157.
doi: 10.1089/acu.2014.1077.

Acupuncture for Neoplasms: An Update from the PubMed Database

Guangjun Wang  1 , Gerhard Litscher  1
Affiliations
Review

Acupuncture for Neoplasms: An Update from the PubMed Database

Guangjun Wang et al. Med Acupunct. .

Abstract

Background: The therapeutic mainstays of cancer remain surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy. However, radiotherapy and chemotherapy are often associated with serious side-effects, such as nausea and vomiting. Acupuncture has been used widely to treat disorders in clinical practice for at least 3000 years. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Consensus Statement, chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting are suitable for acupuncture intervention. Objectives: The goal of this review is to analyze the applications of acupuncture for treating cancer and to look ahead at the potential advantages of acupuncture for patients with cancer. Materials and Methods: The PubMed database was searched for articles on acupuncture therapy and neoplasms. The different distributions of scientific papers were analyzed preliminarily. Results: The articles found showed that acupuncture was used to address various symptoms related to different types of cancer. Conclusions: The results of clinical trials in acupuncture have provided important clues in oncologic practice. The evidence suggests that acupuncture is a safe and effective therapy for managing cancer and treatment-related symptoms, such as nausea and vomiting and fatigue caused by chemotherapy. As more evidence emerges, the potential advantages of acupuncture in tumor treatment will eventually be clear.

Keywords: Acupuncture; Neoplasms; PubMed database.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

<b>FIG. 1.</b>
FIG. 1.
Number of articles retrieved in the PubMed database with the different search queries.
<b>FIG. 2.</b>
FIG. 2.
Yearly distribution of 360 articles retrieved with the search query (Acupuncture Therapy[Majr]) AND Neoplasms[Majr].
<b>FIG. 3.</b>
FIG. 3.
Proportional distribution of the 64 articles related to clinical trials.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Ferlay J, Steliarova-Foucher E, Lortet-Tieulent J, et al. . Cancer incidence and mortality patterns in Europe: Estimates for 40 countries in 2012. Eur J Cancer. 2013;49(6):1374–1403 - PubMed
    1. Ferlay J, Soerjomataram I, Dikshit R, et al. . Cancer incidence and mortality worldwide: Sources, methods and major patterns in GLOBOCAN 2012. Int J Cancer. 2015;136(5):E359–E386 - PubMed
    1. Lu GD, Needham J. Celestial Lancets: A History and Rationale of Acupuncture and Noxa. New York: Cambridge University Press; 1980
    1. National Institutes of Health. Acupuncture. NIH Consens State. 1997;15(5):1–34 - PubMed
    1. Mao JJ, Xie SX, Farrar JT, et al. . A randomised trial of electro-acupuncture for arthralgia related to aromatase inhibitor use. Eur J Cancer. 2014;50(2):267–276 - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources