[Experience and access to acupuncture in patients undergoing anticancer treatment: A multicentric cross-sectional...

The objective was to establish an inventory of the use of complementary therapies, and more particularly acupuncture, in the management of adverse effects of anticancer treatments (ACTs) reported by patients actively treated for solid cancer, as well as to evaluate access to this practice and the experience reported by patients.

Between February and April 2024, we included prospectively all solid cancer outpatients undergoing ACT in these departments of oncology: Mondor Teaching Hospital (Créteil), Polyclinique Maymar (Bastia) and Amethys (La Garenne-Colombes). Each patient completed a questionnaire regarding the following items: ACT-related AE profile, use of complementary therapy, access and interest in acupuncture.

The cohort included 192 pts, 59% of whom were women; 46%, 30% and 11% had a digestive, breast or urological cancer, respectively; 91% underwent chemotherapy; 48% reported nausea or vomiting, 44% peripheral neuropathy, 69% asthenia (any grade). Among the overall population, 46% of patients reported using complementary therapies, including 18% acupuncture, with a mean total number of sessions of 6.3 (min-max: 1-20). Among acupuncture users, 21% of patients reported a reduction in nausea/vomiting, 21% in peripheral neuropathy, 21% in asthenia, and 25% reported a quality-of-life improvement. Overall, 32% did not feel any benefit from acupuncture. Also, 82% of patients had not experienced acupuncture ever for the following reasons: lack of awareness of acupuncture benefits during ACT (51%), difficulty finding an acupuncturist (10%), lack of reimbursement (7%), doubts about efficacy (5%).

Our cohort suggested that the lack of use of acupuncture as complementary care was mainly related to a lack of information about its potential clinical benefits and access issues.