Therapeutic Massage for Cancer Survivors: An Umbrella Review

In Plain Language: cancer pain, explained

This umbrella review aimed to synthesize the evidence from systematic reviews and meta-analyses on the effects of therapeutic massage for cancer survivors. Three 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. Fifteen 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. Therapeutic 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.