ONCOLOGY; Chemotherapy and Radiotherapy

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Nicole MacKee has written in Medicine Today- The Peer Reviewed journal of Clinical Practice[1], “Acupuncture may improve joint pain in women with early-stage breast cancer”. The medical study first published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2018, showed that after 6 weeks, the group of patients who had acupuncture had decreased pain scores (in 58% of patients, compared with 33% in the non-acupuncture groups. 

Associate Professor Melanie Lovell, palliative care physician with Hammond Care, Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine at The University of Sydney and Chair of The Working Party for the Cancer Council Australia's Australian Cancer Pain Management Guideline, said the finding was important. ”Acupuncture has minimum adverse events and [joint pain] is a significant problem for women with early-stage breast cancer. Acupuncture was worth considering in any patient with early breast cancer whose quality of life was impacted by pain. Anything we can add to our armamentarium that isn't medication is really helpful.”[2]

When undergoing oncology treatment such as radio and chemo therapy, there are a variety of factors which contribute to how patients feel day to day.

Chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatments are relatively common procedures used to treat a wide variety of cancers including, but not limited to breast, colon, prostate, lung and skin cancer. Both treatments use anti-cancer drugs (chemotherapy) and x-rays (radiotherapy) to destroy unwanted cancer cells, but as a secondary effect also ‘normal cells’. Although chemotherapy and radiotherapy are effective, as both treatments damage normal cells it can cause side effects. 

Common side effects include[3]:

• Hair loss
• Diarrhoea or constipation 
• Mouth ulcers and infections
• Fatigue
• Depression or anxiety
• Nausea and vomiting
• Swelling in the arms and legs 
• Nerve and muscle problems
• Weight gain or weight loss 
• Skin and nail problems

For some patients these chemotherapy and radiotherapy side effects subside in a few days, however the severity of side effects can be very uncomfortable. For others, side effects may continue on for a substantial amount of time. Generally once treatment has ceased, unwanted effects settle down[3]. 

Multiple ingredients in Professor Yoland Lim Health Care’s KNC preparation have been shown to help with pain and swelling which may be associated with oncology conditions[3], immune and nervous system effects[4], reducing toxicity and side effects, improving biological effects, changing properties or functions, preserving active ingredients and correcting an unpleasant taste[5].

References  

[1] Medicine Today, October 2018, Volume 19, Number 10, p 8.

Cancer Australia. Side effects of chemotherapy canceraustralia.gov.au

[2] JAMA 2018; 320: 167-176.

[3] Cancer Council (2018, August) Managing chemotherapy side effects cancercouncil.com.au/cancer-information/cancer-treatment/chemotherapy/side-effects/ 

[4] Rehmannia webmd.com/vitamins/ai/ingredientmono-1155/rehmannia

[5] Nguyen, Thao T. Parat, Marie-Odile. Shaw, Paul N. Hewavitharana, Amitha K. Hodson, Mark P.  Traditional Aboriginal Preparation Alters the Chemical Profile of Carica papaya Leaves and Impacts on Cytotoxicity towards Human Squamous Cell Carcinoma

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4734615/

Prostate cancer is the second most commonly diagnosed cancer in males[1].

References:

[1] Healthed Email to Medical Doctors "PSA Curly Cases and the Emergence of MRI" 23/9/19