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Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2017 Mar;16(1):118-125.
doi: 10.1177/1534735416654762. Epub 2016 Jun 22.

A Feasibility Study of Moxibustion for Treating Anorexia and Improving Quality of Life in Patients With Metastatic Cancer: A Randomized Sham-Controlled Trial

Ju-Hyun Jeon  1 , Chong-Kwan Cho  2 , So-Jung Park  2 , Hwi-Joong Kang  2 , Kyungmin Kim  1 , In-Chul Jung  2 , Young-Il Kim  2 , Suk-Hoon Lee  3 , Hwa-Seung Yoo  2
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

A Feasibility Study of Moxibustion for Treating Anorexia and Improving Quality of Life in Patients With Metastatic Cancer: A Randomized Sham-Controlled Trial

Ju-Hyun Jeon et al. Integr Cancer Ther. 2017 Mar.

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the feasibility, acceptability, and safety of using moxibustion for treating anorexia and improving quality of life in patients with metastatic cancer.

Methods: We conducted a randomized sham-controlled trial of moxibustion. Sixteen patients with metastatic cancer were recruited from Daejeon, South Korea. The patients were randomly placed into a true or a sham moxibustion group and received 10 true or sham moxibustion treatments administered to the abdomen (CV12, CV8, CV4) and legs (ST36) over a 2-week period. Outcome measures included interest in participating in the trial, identification of successful recruitment strategies, the appropriateness of eligibility criteria, and compliance with the treatment plan (ie, attendance at treatment sessions). Clinical outcomes included results of the Functional Assessment of Anorexia/Cachexia Therapy (FAACT), answers on the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer 30-item core quality of life (EORTC QLQ-C30) questionnaires, scores on the visual analogue scale (VAS), and the results from blood tests and a safety evaluation.

Results: Moxibustion was an acceptable intervention in patients with metastatic cancer. Compliance with the treatment protocol was high, with 11 patients completing all 10 treatments. No serious adverse events related to moxibustion occurred, but 4 patients in the true moxibustion group reported mild rubefaction, which disappeared in a few hours.

Conclusion: This study suggests that moxibustion may be safely used to treat anorexia and improve quality of life in patients with metastatic cancer. However, further research is needed to confirm this result.

Keywords: anorexia; feasibility study; metastatic cancer; moxibustion; quality of life.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting Interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Diagrams of the true and the sham moxibustion devices. The true and the sham moxibustion devices appear to be identical. (A) The true moxibustion has holes at the bottom to allow heat and smoke to radiate to the acupoints. (B) The sham moxibustion has polystyrene (Styrofoam) insulation at its base to block heat and smoke from getting to the acupoint.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Five acupoints (CV12, CV8, CV4, and bilateral ST36) were used for moxibustion in this trial (the patient approved the use of this photograph).
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Flowchart for this study. ITT, intention to treat; PP, per protocol.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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