Acupuncture for chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting in breast cancer is now set for a broader comparative review.
Acupuncture For Breast Cancer CINV
ACUPUNCTURE for chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting in patients with breast cancer is the focus of a planned systematic review and network meta-analysis that aims to clarify which acupuncture approaches may offer the greatest clinical benefit. The protocol highlights a growing need for clearer comparative evidence in supportive cancer care, particularly as chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting remains one of the most disruptive adverse effects faced by this population.
Breast cancer remains one of the most common malignancies in women worldwide, and chemotherapy continues to play a central role across neoadjuvant, adjuvant, and advanced treatment settings. Yet chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting can still affect approximately 70%–80% of patients, with consequences that extend beyond discomfort to include malnutrition, metabolic disturbance, fear of treatment, and reduced adherence. The protocol positions acupuncture as a potentially valuable nonpharmacologic option, noting that multiple clinical trials have suggested benefit, while also emphasizing that the optimal acupuncture modality remains uncertain.
How The Review Will Compare Acupuncture Modalities
The review will assess randomized controlled trials involving adult women with pathologically confirmed breast cancer receiving moderately or highly emetogenic chemotherapy. Interventions eligible for analysis include hand needling, electroacupuncture, auricular acupressure, fire needling, warm needling, catgut embedding, intradermal needling, abdominal acupuncture, acupressure, and combinations of these techniques. Comparators will include sham or placebo acupuncture, conventional antiemetic pharmacotherapy, and other acupuncture methods.
Primary outcomes will be chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting intensity and clinical effectiveness rates. Secondary outcomes will include recurrence, safety, and quality of life. The investigators plan pairwise meta-analyses alongside a Bayesian network meta-analysis, allowing both direct and indirect comparisons across multiple acupuncture interventions. That design could help rank therapies when head-to-head evidence is limited.
Why This Matters for Supportive Oncology Care
The literature search and study selection are expected to be completed by June 2026, with data extraction by August and final manuscript preparation by December 2026. If completed as planned, the analysis could broaden the evidence base for acupuncture in breast cancer supportive care and offer clinicians a more practical framework for selecting acupuncture strategies for chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting.
Reference
Luo Y et al. Acupuncture Therapies for Chemotherapy-Induced Nausea and Vomiting in Patients With Breast Cancer: Protocol for a Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis. JMIR Research Protocols. 2026;15:e86384.
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