Massage therapy shows promise for chemo-induced pain

Massage therapy appears to ease chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) regardless of whether it is directed at the site of pain or not, reports a recent study.

The study included 71 patients (mean age 63.0 years, 77.5 percent women) who had lower extremity CIPN. All participants experienced neuropathy attributed to docetaxel, paclitaxel, or oxaliplatin treatment, and which arose ≥6 months after the last chemotherapy session. All had neuropathy scores ≥3 on a 10-point scale.

Patients were randomly assigned 2:2:1:1 to one of four groups: site-specific lower extremity massage thrice a week, site-specific lower extremity massage twice a week, and two control groups receiving massages in alternate sites delivered thrice and twice weekly, respectively. Massage efficacy was measured using the Pain Quality Assessment Scale (PQAS).

While there were no significant treatment group interactions regarding PQAS scores after 10 weeks of follow-up, researchers documented a significant treatment schedule main effect (p<0.05). Those receiving thrice-weekly massages, regardless of site specificity, showed lower CIPN symptoms than those massaged twice weekly. The improvements were clinically significant.

Overall, the massage intervention was deemed feasible, with high mean completion rates across all four treatment arms.

“Preliminary data from this pilot study will inform the choice of the ideal schedule in order to conduct a larger randomized clinical trial that would include a proper placebo control group,” the researchers said. “Mounting evidence can help support efforts at increasing patient access to oncology massage treatments for symptom relief.”