ASCO Quality 2024: Benefits of Acupuncture in Treating Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy

By: Victoria Kuhr, MS
Posted: Thursday, October 3, 2024

Chuan Lu, MD, MPH, CSCS, of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, and colleagues observed that a decreased need of opioids and neuropsychiatric medication was associated with acupuncture treatment among patients with breast cancer who were diagnosed with chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy. However, the researchers suggest additional studies are needed to confirm the underlying cause-and-effect relationship between acupuncture and the use of opioids and neuropsychiatric medications. These findings were presented at the 2024 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Quality Care Symposium (Abstract 216).

This survival analysis focused on data from the TriNetX Network, comprising real-time electronic health records from more than 60 health-care organizations across the United States between January 1997 and May 2023. Additionally, patients had to be diagnosed with chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy after exposure to chemoagents such as taxane, platinum, vinca alkaloids, thalidomide, or bortezomib. Patients who had at least three acupuncture sessions after receiving a diagnosis of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy were compared with those who had no record of acupuncture treatment. The objectives of the study included recommendations of prescription treatment of sedatives or hypnotics, antidepressants, antipsychotics, anticonvulsant agents, and opioid analgesics, within a 12-month follow-up after the index date. Patients’ receipt of antibiotics was used as the negative control outcome.

The study included 398 propensity-score-matching pairs. Of them, the acupuncture group demonstrated significantly lower hazards of sedatives and hypnotics (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.74, confidence interval [CI] = 0.61–0.9), antidepressants (HR = 0.75, 95% CI = 0.61–0.93), antipsychotics (HR = 0.74, 95% CI = 0.58–0.96), anticonvulsants (HR = 0.48, 95% CI = 0.27–0.87), and opioids (HR = 0.78, 95% CI = 0.65–0.94) use. In contrast, there was an insignificant result for the use of antibiotics (HR = 0.75, 95% CI = 0.55–1.02). Of note, the significance sustained after excluding patients with concurrent other cancers suggests the follow-up period may be set at 9 months.

Disclosure: The study authors reported no conflicts of interest.

2024 ASCO Quality Care Symposium

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