Acupuncture Soothes Chemo-Induced Neuropathic Pain

With a special interest in helping patients diagnosed with cancer, Rachel is the only acupuncturist in Iowa to complete integrative oncology education with Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. Last week, Acupuncture in Medicine (published by British Medical Journal | Journals) reported the following article:

December 8, 2011 — Acupuncture may help relieve the severe pain associated with chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN), according to the results of a pilot study published in Acupuncture in Medicine.

The major groups of drugs that induce CIPN include the taxanes, vinca alkaloids, and platinum compounds, Sven Schroeder, MD, from the HanseMerkur Center for Traditional Chinese Medicine at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany, told Medscape Medical News.

"CIPN involves damage to the peripheral nervous system and can produce severe pain and gait impairment, and is often a reason for stopping chemotherapy with these agents," Dr. Schroeder said.

Data from other studies published in English-language journals on acupuncture as a symptomatic treatment for CIPN have been limited to a few case studies, but they have all reported an improvement in symptoms. Additionally, a Chinese study found that acupuncture was more effective than cobamamide for the treatment of sensory symptoms in paclitaxel-induced CIPN, he said.

"These findings are of special significance since peripheral neuropathy is otherwise almost untreatable, but seems to respond to treatment by acupuncture," Dr. Schroeder said.

In the current study, he and his team evaluated the therapeutic effect of acupuncture on CIPN as measured by changes in nerve conduction studies. The study population consisted of 11 patients who had developed symptoms of peripheral neuropathy during chemotherapy for a variety of cancers.

The acupuncture was performed on all patients by the same physician who had received more than 1000 hours of acupuncture training before participating in the trial and who had used acupuncture for 20 years.

Clinical examination showed that all the patients had a mixture of numbness on touch and nerve pain, and nerve conduction studies showed evidence of damage to the sural nerve.

The study found that acupuncture improved both the speed and the intensity of the nerve signaling in 83% of patients. These same patients also reported that their condition had improved.

"It has been shown that acupuncture may increase the blood flow in the limbs," he said, explaining how acupuncture might work in this condition. "Increased blood flow to the vasa nervorum and dependent capillary beds supplying the neurons may contribute to nerve repair with measurable improvement of axons or myelin sheaths."

His research team is planning a randomized, controlled trial, first in patients with diabetic neuropathy and next among those with CIPN, he said.

For the full text article, visit the BMJ website here.