ReviewEvidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM2021
Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis: Effectiveness and Safety of Acupuncture as Adjuvant Therapy for Side Effects Management in Drug Therapy-Receiving Breast Cancer Patients.
Review in Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled 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.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Quality of Life in Breast and Gynecological Cancer: A Review of Systematic Reviews, 1985-2025.Asia-Pacific journal of clinical oncology · 2026Pooled it
- Effect of Exercise Therapy, Systemic Acupuncture and Silicon Oxide Tablets on Muscular Strength, Lymphedema, and Quality of Life in Breast Cancer Survivors: Randomized Clinical Trial.Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention : APJCP · 2025Trial
- Feasibility and Preliminary Effects of Acupuncture for Cognitive Dysfunction in Diverse Cancer Survivors: A Pilot, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trial.Current oncology (Toronto, Ont.) · 2025Trial
- The effectiveness of acupuncture in cancer pain treatment.Frontiers in oncology · 2024Review
- Review
- The Effects of Complementary Therapies on Patient-Reported Outcomes: An Overview of Recent Systematic Reviews in Oncology.Cancers · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo investigate the potential benefits and safety of acupuncture on managing side effects induced by drug therapies in patients with breast cancer using a PRISMA standard systematic review and meta-analysis.
methodsPublished randomised controlled trials from nine databases in English and Chinese language were searched. Trials with a real acupuncture treatment group and a control group with sham acupuncture, no treatment, or waitlist control were included. The primary outcome of this study was the therapeutic effects on five symptoms induced by drug therapies, including gastrointestinal disorder, neuropathy, arthralgia, joint symptoms, and cognitive impairment. The quality of life was assessed as a secondary outcome. The risk of bias of each study was analysed according to the Cochrane Handbook.
resultsSixteen randomised controlled trials with 1189 participants were included in the meta-analysis. The primary outcome and all subgroup analyses showed statistically significant improvements in the management of side effects by real acupuncture. The quality of life of patients has enhanced during the treatment.
conclusionAlthough the number of publications is limited, a clear preliminary conclusion could be drawn by the meta-analysis, suggesting the beneficial adjuvant role of acupuncture in patients with breast cancer who receive drug therapies. No serious adverse events were observed from all the RCTs, and the safety of acupuncture is ascertained. More standardised and sophisticated large-scale randomised controlled trials are needed to evaluate the findings further.
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.