Electroacupuncture has been found to significantly enhance the efficacy of standard triple antiemetic therapy in managing chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) among breast cancer patients undergoing highly emetogenic chemotherapy (HEC). The randomized, blind, sham-controlled trial, conducted across six Chinese hospitals, demonstrated a notable increase in complete protection rates with the addition of true electroacupuncture.
The study, which ran from March 2022 to December 2023, involved 239 patients randomly assigned to either true electroacupuncture (n = 120) or sham electroacupuncture (n = 119) groups, both receiving standard triple antiemetic therapy. The primary endpoint was the proportion of complete protection, defined as no vomiting, no need for rescue treatment, and no significant nausea (evaluated using the visual analog scale [VAS]) within 120 hours after HEC administration.
The results indicated that the true electroacupuncture group had a significantly higher complete protection rate of 52.9% compared to 34.5% in the sham electroacupuncture group (P = .004). Furthermore, the true electroacupuncture group exhibited enhanced total control (13.4% vs 4.3%; P = .014), reduced significant nausea (58.8% vs 37.9%; P = .001), and a higher rate of nausea VAS score = 0 mm (12.6% vs 4.3%; P = .023). No significant difference was observed in the occurrence of no vomiting during the overall stage (73.9% vs 76.7%; P = .622).
A post hoc exploratory analysis revealed a significantly higher rate of complete protection during the delayed stage in the true electroacupuncture group, while no significant difference was noted during the acute stage. These findings suggest that electroacupuncture may be particularly effective in mitigating delayed CINV.
These results highlight the potential of electroacupuncture as an adjunctive therapy to improve outcomes for patients undergoing chemotherapy. Further research may explore the mechanisms underlying electroacupuncture's antiemetic effects and its applicability to other cancer types and chemotherapy regimens.
