SynthesisCurrent oncology reports2026
Therapeutic Massage for Cancer Survivors: An Umbrella Review.
Synthesis in Current oncology reports, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeThis umbrella review aimed to synthesize the evidence from systematic reviews and meta-analyses on the effects of therapeutic massage for cancer survivors.
methodsThree bibliographic databases were searched from inception to May 1, 2025. Two independent reviewers screened the titles and abstracts of 493 records and retrieved 28 full-text systematic reviews. Assessing the Methodological Quality of Systematic Reviews-2 (AMSTAR-2) was used for quality assessment. Qualitative syntheses were performed to compile the effects of therapeutic massage on cancer-related pain, fatigue, anxiety, sleep, quality of life, and other outcomes. Measures of effect sizes of these outcomes were extracted and summarized.
resultsFifteen systematic reviews with meta-analyses published between 2014 and 2024 were included in this umbrella review, containing 175 primary studies. For quality assessment, three studies were evaluated as moderate quality, eight as low, and four as critically low. Massage therapy, reflexology, acupressure, and auricular acupressure were reported in the included reviews. Overall, therapeutic massage demonstrated positive effects in alleviating cancer-related pain, reducing fatigue and anxiety, improving sleep and quality of life, and managing treatment-related side effects, such as nausea and constipation. Adverse events were uncommon and mild.
conclusionTherapeutic massage appears to be a safe and effective complementary intervention for managing a range of cancer-related symptoms. Despite promising findings, methodological limitations of existing reviews highlight the need for rigorously designed studies and standardized protocols to inform clinical practice.
Indexed as
Identifiers
41848988What 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.