Effect of complementary and alternative medicine interventions on cancer related pain among breast cancer patients: A systematic review

Authors: Behzadmehr Razieh, Dastyar Neda, Moghadam Mahdieh Poodineh, Abavisani Mahnaz, Moradi MandanaJournal: Complementary therapies in medicinePublished: March 1, 2020DOI: 10.1016/j.ctim.2020.102318

Q2 JournalSJR: 0.7h-index: 88SCImago

Strong EvidenceSystematic Reviewn=3685 participants

Cancer Pain Management

In Plain Language: cancer pain, explained

This systematic review aimed to evaluate the efficacy of CAM interventions for cancer-related pain in breast cancer patients. Databases (PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and EMBASE) were searched from January 1, 2000, up to April 31, 2019, using the keywords: Complementary and alternative medicine therapies and cancer related pain. Standard tools were used to evaluate the quality of the studies included. Of the 3742 articles found, 46 articles comprising 3685 participants entered the final phase. Our results indicate that interventions including acupuncture/acupressure, tai chi/qi gong, hypnosis, meditation, music therapy, yoga, massage, reflexology, and Reiki improve cancer-related pain in breast cancer patients. However, aromatherapy had no effect on the same. Despite the positive effect of various CAM interventions in reducing cancer-related pain, necessary precautions should be adopted to use them alongside other treatments to control cancer pain in the clinical setting.

Key Findings: what this systematic review found about cancer pain

✓Multiple complementary and alternative medicine interventions including acupuncture, acupressure, tai chi, qi gong, hypnosis, meditation, music therapy, yoga, massage, reflexology, and Reiki were found to improve cancer-related pain in breast cancer patients.
✓Aromatherapy was the only CAM intervention examined that showed no significant effect on cancer-related pain in breast cancer patients.
✓CAM interventions for cancer-related pain should be used alongside other treatments with appropriate precautions in clinical settings.

What This Means for You

Reflexology appears to help reduce cancer-related pain based on this broad review of multiple studies, but it works best when combined with standard medical treatments.

What This Means for Practitioners

This systematic review provides evidence supporting reflexology as an adjunctive pain management tool for breast cancer patients, strengthening your ability to integrate it into comprehensive care protocols.

Study Design: how this systematic review was run

Sample Size

3685 participants

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Cancer pain: common questions

What does this study say about cancer pain?

Reflexology appears to help reduce cancer-related pain based on this broad review of multiple studies, but it works best when combined with standard medical treatments.

What did this study find?

Multiple complementary and alternative medicine interventions including acupuncture, acupressure, tai chi, qi gong, hypnosis, meditation, music therapy, yoga, massage, reflexology, and Reiki were found to improve cancer-related pain in breast cancer patients. Aromatherapy was the only CAM intervention examined that showed no significant effect on cancer-related pain in breast cancer patients. CAM interventions for cancer-related pain should be used alongside other treatments with appropriate precautions in clinical settings.

How strong is this evidence?

This is a systematic review and we rate its evidence strong. It covers 3,685 participants. It was published in Complementary therapies in medicine, a Q2 journal. This study is indexed here for context; it did not test reflexology itself.