Adjuvant Acupuncture Care for Breast Cancer Patients Experiencing Side Effects From Chemotherapy

Breast cancer patients report many symptoms while undergoing conventional care, including nausea/vomiting, fatigue, pain, depression and anxiety. Existing interventions to address these common side effects of treatment are limited. Patients diagnosed with cancer frequently seek complementary medicine (CAM), and there is a need to investigate potential effects of CAM therapies. This phased pilot and feasibility study has two aims: 1. Develop an acupuncture treatment protocol for adjuvant acupuncture care for breast cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy using structured interviews with established acupuncture teams in Norway. 2. Implement the treatment protocol in a pilot study to evaluate outcome measures, effect sizes and acceptability of acupuncture care delivered alongside conventional care. Study results will support the design of future research; including a Phase III randomised controlled trial.