SynthesisSupportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer2025
Invasive or noninvasive? A systematic review and network meta-analysis of acupuncture and acupressure to treat cancer pain.
Synthesis in Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
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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.
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Comparative Effectiveness of Acupressure and Eucalyptus Aromatherapy on Headache Severity in Hemodialysis Patients: A Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial With a Pretest-Posttest Design.Health science reports · 2026Article
- Mean differences or standardized mean differences in network meta-analyses.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundBoth acupressure and acupuncture effectively alleviate pain in cancer patients. Acupuncture requires specialized practitioners and is invasive, while acupressure is noninvasive and can be self-administered. Current comparative evidence remains insufficient for clear clinical recommendations.
aimsTo investigate the relative efficacy of acupuncture versus acupressure in alleviating pain among cancer patients.
methodsThis systematic review and network meta-analysis employed a Bayesian framework. Eight major Chinese and English databases were searched from inception to March 1, 2025. Two independent reviewers screened literature, extracted data, and assessed bias in selected studies using the Risk of Bias 2 tool. Network meta-analysis was conducted using R software version 4.4.1.
resultsThirty-seven RCTs including 3066 patients were analyzed to compare eight treatments: manual acupuncture, transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation, auricular acupressure, electro-acupuncture, acupoint massage, auricular acupuncture, moxibustion, and placebo. Network meta-analysis revealed auricular acupuncture provided the greatest pain score improvement compared to placebo, followed by auricular acupressure and acupoint massage.
conclusionBased on our analysis, we recommend auricular acupuncture, auricular acupressure, and acupoint massage for managing cancer pain. While current studies demonstrate potential benefits, limitations include concurrent pain medication use and methodological inconsistencies. Future research should include more robust, single-intervention clinical trials to definitively evaluate efficacy for oncology patients.
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Registered trials
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