Pins and needles

Acupuncture research takes aim at cancer treatment pain

The debilitating side effects of chemotherapy and radiation might be relieved by—of all things—needles.

Two Carolina professors from nursing and exercise science are studying the effectiveness of acupuncture in alleviating side effects of breast cancer treatment.

“Our goal is to determine if acupuncture will eliminate the unpleasant side effects of nausea, lack of appetite, and dryness of mouth and improve patient adherence in taking medications,” said nursing professor Ken Phillips, the study’s principal investigator.

Sixty women diagnosed with breast cancer are participating in the study; about half will receive twice weekly acupuncture treatments for five weeks, and half will undergo relaxation therapy.

“We’re interested in psychoneuroimmunology, the interaction of mind and body,” said Greg Hand, an exercise science professor in USC’s Arnold School of Public Health. “We know that physical illness can affect your psychological well being just as our psychological state can affect our physical well being.”

When under stress from chemotherapy, radiation, or infectious disease, the human body releases an increased amount of chemical messengers called cytokines, which induce poor appetite and nausea. Scientists believe acupuncture needles affect the body’s cytokine mechanisms and alleviate the accompanying side effects.