Predictors of acupuncture use among children and adolescents with cancer.

Background: Evidence for the application of acupuncture in pediatric oncology is limited. We investigated the acceptance of acupuncture and factors associated with its use among children and adolescents with cancer.

Methods: Ninety acupuncture-naïve children receiving cancer treatment at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) provided consent/assent for participation.

The safety of acupuncture in children and adolescents with cancer therapy-related thrombocytopenia.

Purpose: Acupuncture is frequently used to manage the side effects associated with cancer therapy. In acupuncture practice, the presence of thrombocytopenia is a relative contraindication to acupuncture use among patients with cancer. However, the safety of acupuncture in patients with cancer treatment-related thrombocytopenia has not been previously investigated.

Massage therapy as a supportive care intervention for children with cancer.

Purpose/objectives: To review relevant literature about massage therapy to assess the feasibility of integrating the body-based complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) practice as a supportive care intervention for children with cancer.

Data Sources: PubMed, online references, published government reports, and the bibliographies of retrieved articles, reviews, and books on massage and massage and cancer. More than 70 citations were reviewed.