Pharmacopuncture for Cancer Care: A Systematic Review

Table 1

Characteristics of the included studies: pain.

Author	Sample size (M/F); Cancer type	Intervention (𝑛)	Control (𝑛)	Outcome measures	Result
					Intervention	Control
Liu 2010 [16]	50 (31/19); Various	Bucinnazine (100 mg) injection at ST35 (𝑛 = 28)	Bucinnazine (100 mg), IM; (𝑛 = 22)	Responder rate (%)^a	85.7%*	59.1%
Li 2009 [17]	40 (22/18); Various	Fentanyl plaster (4.2 mg) and Bucinnazine injection at ST36; (𝑛 = 20); q8h	Fentanyl plaster (4.2 mg) and Bucinnazine, IM (𝑛 = 20); q8h	Responder rate (%)	80%	80%
Shen 2009 [18]	52 (23/25); Various	Stauntoniae injection at ear acupoints (𝑛 = 23); 0.1–0.3 mL at each point, qd	Oxycodon, po (𝑛 = 25); (1) moderate pain: 5 mg, bid; (2) severe pain: 10 mg, bid (dose escalation by 25–50% if pain gets worse)	(A) Responder rate (%); (B) Onset of analgesia, duration of analgesia (min, mean ± SD)	(A) 91.3%; (B) 17.7 ± 6.9**,; 18.2 ± 1.3**	(A) 92%; (B) 31.4 ± 6.6,; 11.8 ± 1.0
Dou et al. 2004 [19]	120 (67/43); Late gastric cancer	Pethidine (50–100 mg) injection at ST36 (𝑛 = 43)	(1) MA at ST36 (𝑛 = 39); (2) Pethidine (50–100 mg), IM; (𝑛 = 39)	Responder rate (%)	93%**	(1) 71.8%; (2) 60.5%
Wang et al. 2004a [20]	102 (35/67); Various	Anisodamine (10 mg), dexamethasone (5 mg), and energy synbiotics injection (4 mL) at bilateral ST36, and Vit. B12 (500 𝜇g) at bilateral SP10; (𝑛 = 52); qd	Pethidine (100 mg), IM (𝑛 = 50); qd	Responder rate (%)^b	0 h: 57.7%**; 0.5–4 h: 80.8%; 4–24 h: 75%**; 24–72 h: 78.9%**; 96 h: 80.8%**	0 h: 0%; 0.5–4 h: 88%; 4–24 h: 50%; 24–72 h: 50%; 96 h: 52%
Wang et al. 2004b [21]	120 (61/59); Various	Anisodamine (10 mg), dexamethasone (5 mg), and energy synbiotics injection (4 mL) at bilateral ST36, and Vit. B12 (500 𝜇g) at bilateral SP10; (𝑛 = 60); qd	Pethidine (100 mg), IM (𝑛 = 60); qd	Responder rate (%)^b	0 h: 51.7%**; 4 h: 93.3%; 24 h: 81.7%**; 72 h: 85%**; 96 h: 91.7%**	0 h: 0%; 4 h: 95%; 24 h: 15%; 72 h: 60%; 96 h: 63.3%
Bai 2003 [22]	120 (71/49); Various	Nefopam injection (20 mg) at bilateral ST36 (𝑛 = 60)	Pethidine (50 mg), IM (𝑛 = 60)	Responder rate (%)	81.6%*	65%
Guan et al. 2001 [23]	122 (86/36); Various	Distilled and purified Chinese herbs (4 mL) injection at various acupoints (𝑛 = 61); qd (bid, if pain is severe)	Western medicine (4 mL) injection at various acupoints; (𝑛 = 61); qd (bid, if pain is severe)	Responder rate (%)^b	57.4%*	42.6%

AE: adverse events; bid: twice a day; h: hour(s); IM: intramuscular injection; MA: manual acupuncture; min: minute(s); NR: not reported; po: orally; q8h: every 8 hours; qd: everyday; SD: standard deviation; Vit.: vitamin.
Acupuncture point ST36 refers to 36th point of stomach meridian and extra points have different nomenclature (e.g., Ex-UE7 means 7th extra point in the upper extremity).
Responder rate: (number of participants with any improvement from the intervention/total number of participants) * 100(%) unless stated otherwise.
^aResponder rate: (number of participants with no need of analgesia/total number of participants) * 100(%).
^bResponder rate: (number of participants with improvement from the intervention with no sleep disturbance/total number of participants) * 100(%).
* 𝑃<0.05; **𝑃<0.01.