The use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) amongst cancer patients or survivors is high, it was reported that the usage in general population in Australia ranges from 52 to 70% (Biddle, Wilkinson, & Simpson, 2003; MacLennan, Myers, & Taylor, 2006), acupuncture is one of the most commonly used complementary medicine therapies. In the United States, as part of integrative cancer care acupuncture is available for public in a number of cancer centres including Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, and M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Huston (Lu et al., 2009).
There are a few conditions for which sound research has demonstrated acupuncture to effective and safe adjunct therapy for cancer care, this includes a variety of symptoms and conditions associated with cancer, for example cancer fatigue; adverse effects of conventional treatments such as chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting are also often treated with acupuncture. Common reasons for use acupuncture reported by patients are for improving physical and emotional well-being and boosting the immunity functions (Kremser et al., 2008; Molassiotis et al., 2005)
Despite the popularity of acupuncture in cancer patients (de Valois, Young, Robinson, McCourt, & Maher, 2010) (Frisk, Kallstrom, Wall, Fredrikson, & Hammar, 2011; Lu et al., 2009), there has been poor communication between patients and medical carers (Lu et al., 2009). Patients and healthcare professionals need more information.
This presentation aims to provide overview on use of acupuncture for cancer related conditions with information on the possible mechanisms of its effectiveness. Challenges with its application in the Australian health care contexts are also outlined.