針灸在癌症治療中的角色探討

The Role of Acupuncture Therapy for Cancer

美國多個癌症中心例如波士頓的Dana-Farber Cancer Institute （DFCI），紐約的Memorial Sloan-Kettering癌症中心，休士頓的M.D. Anderson癌症中心都嘗試應用另類醫學complementary and alternative medicine （CAM）幫助癌症患者。其中針灸佔了1.7%至3.1%。臨床試驗證明針灸的有效，包括了化療所導致的噁心嘔吐、癌痛的緩解、相關手術疼痛緩解、化療造成的白血球減少，倦怠、失眠、焦慮、生活品質（QOL）的提升、放療造成的口乾、乳癌患者的潮紅等。

Many cancer centers in America, such as Boston's Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI), New York's Memorial Sloan-Kettering and Houston's M.D. Anderson, are trying to use complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) for treating cancer patients. Acupuncture is included, and it takes around 1.7-3.1 percent. Clinical trials have proved the efficiency of acupuncture in relieving cancer pain, postoperative pain, hot flush (breast cancer patient), radiation-induced xerostomia, chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting, as well as in alleviating neutropenia, tiredness, anxiety and insomnia induced by chemotherapy, and in improving the quality of life (QOL).