Acupuncture Eases Radiation-induced Xerostomia for Patients With Head and Neck Cancers

Twice a week acupuncture treatments eased the dry mouth (xerostomia) associated with radiation therapy treatments for head and neck cancers in a recent small study at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

The acupuncture treatments targeted points on the ears, chin, index finger, forearm and lateral surface of the leg in a study of 19 patients experiencing xerostomia from radiation therapy conducted at least four weeks before the trial, the authors of “Acupuncture for Radiation-induced Xerostomia in Patients With Cancer: A Pilot Study,” stated in the April 17, 2009, issue of Head & Neck.

“The quality of life in patients with radiation-induced xerostomia is profoundly impaired,” said Mark S. Chambers, M.S., D.M.D., the study’s senior author. “Symptoms can include altered taste acuity, dental decay, infections of the tissues of the mouth and difficulty with speaking, eating and swallowing. Conventional treatments have been less than optimal, providing short-term response at best.”

Study participants were tested for saliva flow and filled out self-assessments and questionnaires related to their symptoms and qualify of life before the first acupuncture treatment and after four and eight weeks, according to an MD Anderson Cancer Center press release. The acupuncture produced, “ highly statistically significant improvements in symptoms,” the authors stated.

“In this pilot study, patients with severe xerostomia who underwent acupuncture showed improvements in physical well-being and in subjective symptoms,” said Dr. Chambers. “Although the patient population was small, the positive results are encouraging and warrant a larger trial to assess patients over a longer period of time.”

A phase three placebo-controlled trial is planned and currently under review, said M. Kay Garcia, LAc, Dr.P.H., a clinical nurse specialist and acupuncturist in MD Anderson’s Integrative Medicine Program and the study’s first author.

“Recently we completed a study at Fudan University Cancer Hospital in Shanghai, China, that compared acupuncture to usual care to prevent xerostomia,” said Garcia. “We have now started a two-arm placebo-controlled pilot trial in Shanghai. In the prevention trials, acupuncture is performed on the same day as the radiation treatments.”

For more information on these trials, visit the Newsroom at http://www.mdanderson.org.