Evidence map›Paper›PMID 26945382›Full record

SynthesisMedicine2016

Acupuncture and Related Therapies for Symptom Management in Palliative Cancer Care: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Charlotte H Y Lau, Xinyin Wu, Vincent C H Chung, Xin Liu, Edwin P Hui, Holger Cramer, Romy Lauche, Samuel Y S Wong, Alexander Y L Lau, Regina W S Sit and 3 more

Erratum issued Registry-linked trialOpen access · goldAbstract readMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Medicine, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. It is linked to trial NCT06465628 (Effect of Self-administered Acupressure for Improving Xerostomia in Head and Neck Cancer Patients), which is not on this map. Cited by 63 papers, 9 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
63citing papers in PubMed, 9 pooled it
35.4field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT06465628 narecruitingnot on this mapstarted 2024, after this paper: background citation

Effect of Self-administered Acupressure for Improving Xerostomia in Head and Neck Cancer Patients: a Randomized Controlled Trial

TypeinterventionalSponsorThe University of Hong KongRan2024 to 2027Enrolled126ConditionsHead and Neck Cancer, XerostomiaArmsSelf-administered acupressure, Oral health education
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

63 citing papers in PubMed, 9 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 150 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Pooled it
  5. Pooled it
  6. Pooled it
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  9. Pooled it
  10. Trial
  11. Acupuncture for reduction of symptom burden in multiple myeloma patients undergoing autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation: a randomized sham-controlled trial.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2018
    Trial
  12. Acupuncture for cancer-related fatigue in lung cancer patients: a randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled pilot trial.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2017
    Trial
  13. Trial
  14. Trial
  15. Article
  16. Review
  17. The effect of traditional Chinese medicine on psychological conditions among elderly patients with cancer: a scoping review.Psychogeriatrics : the official journal of the Japanese Psychogeriatric Society · 2024
    Article
  18. Quality of Life in Palliative Care: A Systematic Meta-Review of Reviews and Meta-Analyses.Clinical practice and epidemiology in mental health : CP & EMH · 2024
    Article
  19. Review
  20. Article

3 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

13 authors at 2 institutions in 3 countries.

Charlotte H Y LauFrom the Faculty of Medicine (CHL); Hong Kong Institute of Integrative Medicine (XW, VCC, EPH, SYW, AYL, RWSS, JCW); Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care (XW, VCC, XL, SYW, RWSS); Comprehensive Cancer Trials Unit (EPH), The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China; Department of Internal and Integrative Medicine (HC), Faculty of Medicine, Kliniken Essen-MitteUniversity of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany; Australian Research Centre in Complementary and Integrative Medicine (ARCCIM) (HC), Faculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, Australia; Department of Medicine and Therapeutics (AYL, JCW), The Chinese University of Hong Kong; and Chinese Medicine Department (ETZ, BFN), Hong Kong Hospital Authority, Hong Kong, China.
Xinyin Wu
Vincent C H Chung
Xin Liu
Edwin P Hui
Holger Cramer
Romy Lauche
Samuel Y S Wong
Alexander Y L Lau
Regina W S Sit
Eric T C Ziea
Bacon F L Ng
Justin C Y Wu
JW Pharmaceutical (South Korea) · KRChinese University of Hong Kong · HK

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Available systematic reviews showed uncertainty on the effectiveness of using acupuncture and related therapies for palliative cancer care. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to summarize current best evidence on acupuncture and related therapies for palliative cancer care. Five international and 3 Chinese databases were searched. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing acupuncture and related therapies with conventional or sham treatments were considered. Primary outcomes included fatigue, paresthesia and dysesthesias, chronic pain, anorexia, insomnia, limb edema, constipation, and health-related quality of life, of which effective conventional interventions are limited. Thirteen RCTs were included. Compared with conventional interventions, meta-analysis demonstrated that acupuncture and related therapies significantly reduced pain (2 studies, n = 175, pooled weighted mean difference: -0.76, 95% confidence interval: -0.14 to -0.39) among patients with liver or gastric cancer. Combined use of acupuncture and related therapies and Chinese herbal medicine improved quality of life in patients with gastrointestinal cancer (2 studies, n = 111, pooled standard mean difference: 0.75, 95% confidence interval: 0.36-1.13). Acupressure showed significant efficacy in reducing fatigue in lung cancer patients when compared with sham acupressure. Adverse events for acupuncture and related therapies were infrequent and mild. Acupuncture and related therapies are effective in reducing pain, fatigue, and in improving quality of life when compared with conventional intervention alone among cancer patients. Limitations on current evidence body imply that they should be used as a complement, rather than an alternative, to conventional care. Effectiveness of acupuncture and related therapies for managing anorexia, reducing constipation, paresthesia and dysesthesia, insomnia, and limb edema in cancer patients is uncertain, warranting future RCTs in these areas.

Indexed as

Acupuncture TherapyNeoplasmsHumansPalliative Care

Identifiers

PMID26945382
PMCPMC4782866
OpenAlexW2292193857

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.