Chinese Medicine and Breast Cancer: Supporting Your Body Through Surgery, Treatment, and Recovery

Chinese Medicine and Breast Cancer: Supporting Your Body Through Surgery, Treatment, and Recovery

What acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine can offer as supportive care alongside conventional treatment.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and we want to speak directly to anyone facing a diagnosis, in treatment, or years into survivorship. Chinese medicine can be a meaningful source of support during this time, and it is worth being clear about what that support is, and isn’t.

An important starting point: acupuncture and Chinese medicine are complementary to breast cancer care. They are not a replacement for surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, targeted therapy, or endocrine therapy, and we do not treat the cancer itself. Our role is to help you feel as well as possible, in coordination with your oncology team.

How Chinese Medicine Understands Treatment’s Toll

Cancer treatment is life-saving, and it is also demanding. In TCM terms, surgery disrupts the flow of Qi and Blood, chemotherapy can deplete Qi, Blood, and Yin and unsettle the Spleen and Stomach (nausea, poor appetite, fatigue), and endocrine therapy can bring on Kidney Yin depletion patterns such as hot flashes, night sweats, and joint aches. The goal of supportive TCM care is to ease these effects and strengthen your resilience, so you can get through treatment more comfortably.

What the Research Shows

Integrative Oncology is a growing field, and the evidence is stronger for some uses than others. Here is what we can say, based on peer-reviewed studies and guidelines.

Clinical Guidelines

The Society for Integrative Oncology (SIO) published evidence-based guidelines on integrative therapies during and after breast cancer treatment, later endorsed by the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). Among the recommendations:

• Acupuncture and acupressure are recommended for reducing chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting
• Meditation, yoga, stress management, and music therapy are recommended for anxiety and stress, and massage is among the therapies recommended for depression and mood disorders
• Acetyl-L-carnitine is not recommended to prevent chemotherapy-induced neuropathy because of a possibility of harm
• No strong evidence supports ingested dietary supplements for managing treatment-related side effects

The guideline authors also note that many integrative practices remain understudied, with insufficient evidence to be definitively recommended or avoided. A later joint SIO-ASCO guideline on cancer pain, as described in a 2023 commentary, found acupuncture and massage to have an intermediate level of evidence, resulting in moderate-strength recommendations for their use in cancer pain management.

Joint pain from aromatase inhibitors

Joint pain is among the most common side effects of aromatase inhibitors and often leads women to stop therapy. In a randomized trial of 226 postmenopausal women with early-stage breast cancer, published in JAMA, true acupuncture reduced average worst-pain scores by about 2.05 points at 6 weeks, compared with about 1.07 for sham acupuncture and 0.99 for waitlist. The differences were statistically significant, but the authors described the improvement as being of uncertain clinical importance. True acupuncture also caused more mild bruising (47% vs. 25% with sham).

Around surgery

In a multicenter randomized trial of 576 women undergoing mastectomy in China, transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation (an electrical, non-needle technique, applied for 30 minutes before anesthesia induction) at two acupoints, PC-6 and CV-17, was associated with less chronic pain six months later: 22.1% in the combined-acupoint group versus 34.6% with sham stimulation. That group also needed less intraoperative opioid and had less nausea and vomiting at 24 hours. This is hospital-based care rather than clinic acupuncture, but it shows that acupoint-based approaches are being studied in the surgical setting.

The broader picture

A 2022 overview of 51 systematic reviews found acupuncture to be beneficial for cancer-related pain, fatigue, insomnia, quality of life, nausea and vomiting, hot flashes, and joint pain, and possibly helpful for lymphedema and dry mouth. It found inconsistent results for chemotherapy-induced neuropathy and for depression and anxiety. Importantly, the authors rated all but one of the 51 reviews as low or very low methodological quality, so conclusions should be read cautiously. No severe adverse events related to acupuncture were reported in the reviews. A 2024 network meta-analysis of 18 studies on breast-cancer-related lymphedema likewise suggested possible benefit from acupuncture and moxibustion, with the authors calling for larger, higher-quality trials.

The honest summary: the best evidence supports acupuncture for nausea, and for pain and joint pain; many other uses are promising but not yet proven. We would rather tell you that plainly than overpromise.

Supporting Your Body at Each Stage

Before surgery

• Calming, sleep-supporting care can help ease pre-surgical stress, with your surgeon’s approval
• Tell your surgical team about every herb and supplement you take. Some need to be stopped before surgery, so please check with them first
  • A Great Resources is MSKCC About Herbs Database
• Focus on regular, warm, nourishing meals to go in as strong as you can

After surgery

• Once your surgeon clears you, gentle acupuncture can support healing, comfort, and sleep, using points away from the incision, drains, and surgical area
• TCM nutrition emphasizes easy-to-digest, warm foods such as congee and soups while your appetite and Qi recover
• If lymph nodes were removed or you have swelling, tell us before any treatment. We take extra precautions and coordinate with your care team

During chemotherapy

• Nausea: the area with the strongest guideline support. Acupuncture and acupressure are used alongside anti-nausea medication, not instead of it
• Fatigue, appetite, and sleep: TCM focuses on supporting the Spleen, Stomach, and Blood
• Timing matters: blood counts can change what is safe, so we coordinate with your oncology team about when to treat
• Neuropathy: the evidence is mixed, so we treat it as a trial of comfort, not a guaranteed fix

During radiation

• TCM views radiation as a Heat and dryness pattern, so Yin-nourishing, moistening foods (pears, soups, mild teas) are traditional support
• Rest, gentle movement, and acupuncture for fatigue and sleep may help. We avoid treating the irradiated skin area

During endocrine therapy and survivorship

• Joint pain: supported by the trial data above
• Hot flashes and night sweats: acupuncture has been studied extensively for these, and we use Kidney Yin-nourishing points such as KD-6 and SP-6
• Mood and stress: massage, meditation, and yoga are guideline-supported, and acupuncture is one of several options

A Word of Caution About Herbs and Supplements

Chinese herbal medicine is part of TCM, but during cancer treatment it needs special care. Many people combine herbs with conventional medication. In one Taiwanese study of women with breast cancer who used Chinese herbal medicine, 80% were taking herbs at the same time as Western medication, and the authors pointed to the potential risk of drug-herb interactions and the need for further safety research. Guidelines also note that no strong evidence supports ingested supplements for managing side effects.

Please do not start any herb, tea blend, or supplement during treatment without first talking with your oncology team or oncology pharmacist. We will always ask for your full medication list and will coordinate with your care team before recommending anything you swallow.

What Care With Us Looks Like

• We listen first. Your first visit is a conversation about your diagnosis, treatment plan, and what is hardest right now
• We coordinate. With your permission, we communicate with your oncology team
• We keep it gentle. Shorter, lighter sessions are common, and we adapt to how you feel that day
• We stay in our lane. We support your wellbeing. Treatment decisions belong to you and your oncologist

During treatment, contact your oncology team right away for fever, signs of infection, new or worsening swelling, or anything that worries you. Don’t wait for your next appointment with us.

Facing a diagnosis or supporting someone who is? We’re here. Book a free consultation or call 480.426.9251.

Sources (based on articles retrieved from PubMed):

1. Greenlee H, et al. Clinical practice guidelines on the evidence-based use of integrative therapies during and after breast cancer treatment. CA Cancer J Clin. 2017. doi:10.3322/caac.21397
2. Lyman GH, et al. Integrative therapies during and after breast cancer treatment: ASCO endorsement of the SIO clinical practice guideline. J Clin Oncol. 2018. doi:10.1200/JCO.2018.79.2721
3. Liou KT, et al. SIO-ASCO guideline on integrative medicine for cancer pain management: implications for racial and ethnic pain disparities. JNCI Cancer Spectr. 2023. doi:10.1093/jncics/pkad042
4. Hershman DL, et al. Effect of acupuncture vs sham acupuncture or waitlist control on joint pain related to aromatase inhibitors among women with early-stage breast cancer: a randomized clinical trial. JAMA. 2018. doi:10.1001/jama.2018.8907
5. Lu Z, et al. Transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation before surgery reduces chronic pain after mastectomy: a randomized clinical trial. J Clin Anesth. 2021. doi:10.1016/j.jclinane.2021.110453
6. Zhang XW, et al. Acupuncture for cancer-related conditions: an overview of systematic reviews. Phytomedicine. 2022. doi:10.1016/j.phymed.2022.154430
7. Xu Y, et al. Comparison efficacy and safety of acupuncture and moxibustion therapies in breast cancer-related lymphedema: a systematic review and network meta-analysis. PLoS One. 2024. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0303513
8. Wang BR, et al. Coprescription of Chinese herbal medicine and Western medication among female patients with breast cancer in Taiwan: analysis of national insurance claims. Patient Prefer Adherence. 2014. doi:10.2147/PPA.S61280

This article is for general education and is not a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Luna Acupuncture & Wellness does not treat or cure cancer. Please follow the guidance of your oncology team.

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