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Massage interventions and treatment-related side effects of breast cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis

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International Journal of Clinical Oncology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Background

Massage as a complementary and alternative therapy has been associated with enhancing health and coping with treatment-related side effects in patients with breast cancer worldwide. This systematic review examined whether massage interventions provide any measurable benefit in breast cancer-related symptoms.

Methods

Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were searched for in PubMed, EMBASE.com and the Cochrane Library through June 2013. We evaluated the quality of the studies included by the Cochrane Handbook 5.2 standards and analyzed the data using the Cochrane Collaboration’s RevMan 5.2 software.

Results

Eighteen RCTs with a total of 950 participants were included. Compared with the control group, our meta-analysis showed that patients receiving regular use of massage had significantly greater reductions in anger and fatigue symptoms. However, there were no significant differences in depression, anxiety, pain, upper limb lymphedema, cortisol and health-related quality of life.

Conclusions

The current evidence demonstrates that there was mild evidence that massage may be a useful intervention in alleviating negative emotions and fatigue in patients with breast cancer. More trials with longer follow-up are needed to determine the exact long-term efficacy of this class of complementary and alternative medicine on breast cancer-related symptoms and quality of life.

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Conflict of interest

All authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medical Psychology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China

    Yuan Q. Pan

  2. Evidence-Based Medicine Center, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Lanzhou University, 199 Donggang West Road, Lanzhou, 730000, Gansu, China

    Ke H. Yang

  3. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, The 2nd Hospital of Lanzhou University, Cui Ying Gate 82, Lanzhou, 730030, Gansu, China

    Yu L. Wang

  4. Longdong University, 9 Kangshou Road, Xifeng District, Qingyang, 745000, Gansu, China

    Lai P. Zhang

  5. Department of Neurosurgery, The Affiliated Hospital of Logistics University of CAPF, Chenglin Road, Hedong District, Tianjin, 300162, China

    Hai Q. Liang

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  1. Yuan Q. Pan
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  2. Ke H. Yang
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  3. Yu L. Wang
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ke H. Yang.

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Pan, Y.Q., Yang, K.H., Wang, Y.L. et al. Massage interventions and treatment-related side effects of breast cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Int J Clin Oncol 19, 829–841 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10147-013-0635-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10147-013-0635-5

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