Current Clinical Application of Acupuncture in the Management of Cancer-Related Complications

Cancer and its associated complications bring about an unimaginable degree of suffering for patients along with a heavy financial toll, leaving patients' quality of life profoundly undermined. A large number of pharmaceutical agents have been developed and used in clinical settings to treat these complications. However, the available drugs mostly have large side effects, such as stomach issues or constant damage to organs. These side effects will lead to lower patient compliance with ongoing treatment, which in turn will contribute to increased disease progression. So we have a clear clinical need for safer, more effective add-on types of therapy when it comes to cancer stuff. Acupuncture, characterized by being well-tolerated and having few side effects, shows some special clinical benefits. It meets clinical demands quite well and is one of the more frequently utilized modalities for dealing with cancer complications. This paper reviews recent domestic and overseas papers about acupuncture for commonly occurring cancer-related complications such as cancer pain, cancer-related fatigue, cancer-related sleep disorder, gastrointestinal dysfunction, and chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy. Aims to give clinical practitioners something useful as a reference and helps make acupuncture part of overall treatment plans for cancer conditions involving different body areas in a combined Chinese-Western approach. Furthermore, it can also support further efforts to improve the efficacy of treatment and to investigate how acupuncture works to relieve the cancer complication.