Review of Clinical Acupuncture Research Protocols on Cancer in the USA

미국의 암 관련 침 임상 연구 프로토콜 분석

Objective : To overview the protocols of clinical acupuncture research on cancer in the USA. Methods : Using 'acupuncture' and 'cancer' as keyword search terms in Clinical Trials. gov, 28 clinical studies were found. Three studies by non-American institutions were excluded and 25 studies were analyzed. Analytic parameters were cancer condition, primary outcome, research institution, study design, and acupuncture intervention. Results : Breast cancer was the most frequent single condition in the searched protocols. Pain and quality of life were the primary outcomes in many studies. Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centerin New York has performed the largest number of acupuncture cancer studies. The majority of studies were randomized controlled trials with active controls or placebo/sham controls. Total enrollment varied between the range of 10 and 700 subjects and ages of these subjects were at least above 18 years old (except one protocol). Most protocols had strict exclusion criteria for acupuncture needling such as bleeding disorders, infection, heart disorder, and central nervous system disorder. Conclusions : Clinical acupuncture studies for cancer patients have focused on pain, quality of life, and side effects induced by anti-cancer therapies. Re-evaluation and cautions for strict exclusion criteria in foreign countries are required to perform multi-national acupuncture trials.