By: Aaron Tallent
From: oncologynewscentral.com
Findings from the phase 2 ENHANCE study show that both real and sham acupuncture produced clinically meaningful improvements in perceived cognitive impairment experienced by patients with breast cancer, with real acupuncture demonstrating overall superiority. The results were presented at the 2025 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS) and strengthen evidence for a form of supportive care that is being used by an increasing number of patients (Abstract GS3-04).
Virginia Kaklamani, MD, DSc, a professor of medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio and codirector of the SABCS, who moderated the news briefing where the data were presented, said that she encourages her patients to explore acupuncture if they are interested in it. She added, “There’s no hurtful data out there. There’s data with acupuncture showing improvement in symptoms that come from medications that were prescribed to our patients.”
Jun J. Mao, MD, MSCE, lead author of the study and the Laurance S. Rockefeller chair in integrative medicine and chief of integrative medicine and wellness service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) in New York City, cited his previous research that found an association between insomnia and cognitive impairment in breast cancer survivors, as well as another study demonstrating that acupuncture improved insomnia.
For the ENHANCE trial, Dr. Mao wanted to compare two types of acupuncture with usual care. Researchers enrolled 260 women with a history of stage 0–III breast cancer who completed treatment and had cognitive difficulties and insomnia. Of those patients, 129 were given real acupuncture, whereas another 70 received sham acupuncture, which uses points that are not trigger points and needles that do not penetrate the skin. The remaining 61 had usual care, given at the physician’s discretion.
The patients were assessed using the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy–Cognitive Function at baseline and then again at 10 weeks and 26 weeks. At 10 weeks, patients receiving real acupuncture had a 10.3-point improvement, those undergoing sham acupuncture had a 10.5-point improvement, and individuals in the usual care cohort had a 4.8-point improvement. In addition, Dr. Mao said that real acupuncture produced a twofold improvement in reducing perceived cognitive impairment versus usual care at both 10 weeks and 26 weeks.
Dr. Mao noted that the findings suggest that acupuncture has “a therapeutic benefit for improving women’s perception of their common difficulties. However, the specific needling aspect of acupuncture may cover additional benefits for objective cognitive function compared to sham [acupuncture], and [there is a] need for further study.”
In addition, he cited the fact that the trial was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic and solely at MSKCC as limitations for the study. Both he and Dr. Kaklamani also said that access to this treatment can be challenging for patients because of cost and demand. For example, Dr. Mao said that MSKCC now has a waitlist for acupuncture that is roughly two months long.
Dr. Mao said that next steps should include increasing insurance coverage for acupuncture and offering systematic education on its use and benefits.
Barbara Jacoby is an award winning blogger that has contributed her writings to multiple online publications that have touched readers worldwide.