Available online 21 December 2023

Author links open overlay panel, , , , , , ABSTRACTObjective

To summarize the rules of acupoint selection in treatment of cancer with moxibustion by analyzing the articles of relevant clinical trials in recent years in China, so as to provide the references for acupoint selection of moxibustion for cancer.

Methods

The articles of clinical trials for treatment of cancer with moxibustion were retrieved from China National knowledge Infrastructure (CNKII), VIP Chinese Journal Service Platform (VIP) and Wanfang Data Knowledge Service Platform (Wanfang) from 1st January 2015 to 30th June 2021. Using EpiData software, the data were extracted and exported in Excel. The analysis was performed with IBM SPSS Statistics 23 software.

Results

A total of 516 articles were collected, including 533 prescriptions with 164 acupoints involved. The high-frequency acupoints were similar among 7 types of cancers and these acupoints mostly acted on supporting the antipathogenic qi, replenishing qi and regulating the spleen and stomach. Regarding meridian tropism, the acupoints from the conception vessel, the governor vessel and bladder meridian were dominant in treatment of cancer with moxibustion. In terms of location distribution, the selected acupoints were generally distributed on the chest, abdomen, lumbar region and the upper back of the body. Based on cancer related symtomes in different systems, the use frequency of Zusanli (ST36) was the highest for the symptoms of the immune, digestive, circulatory and motor systems; that of Feishu (BL13) was the highest for the respiratory system symptoms and that of Guanyuan (CV4) was the highest for the urinary system symptoms. The cluster analysis of high-frequency acupoints showed that the acupoints of moxibustion for cancer generally work on cultivating yang, supporting the antipathogenic qi, strengthening the spleen and harmonizing the stomach, and were selected in association with the clinical symptoms of different cancers.

Conclusion

In treatment of cancer with moxibustion, the acupoints of the conception vessel and the governor vessel, as well as the back-shu points of the bladder meridian were dominated. All of these acupoints acted on supporting the antipathogenic qi, replenishing qi and regulating the spleen and stomach. It emphasized the etiology of “the deficiency in the root” of cancer, and the characteristics of acupoint selection based on syndrome differentiation in treatment with moxibustion.

Section snippetsLiterature searching strategy

The relevant articles were searched from China National knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), VIP Chinese Journal Service Platform (VIP) and Wanfang Data Knowledge Service Platform (Wanfang) from 1st January 2015 to 30th June 2021. With combination of subject terms and free words, the search strategy in Chinese was (“艾”or“艾法”or“艾灸”or“灸”or“温灸”or“灸疗”or“艾术”)and(“癌”or“癌症”or“恶性肿瘤”or“肿瘤”).

Inclusion criteria

(1) Study type: clinical controlled trial for cancer treated with moxibustion. (2) Subjects: patients with definite

Screening process and results

In this study, 3310 articles were retrieved and 516 articles were included finally. Seven types of moxibustion therapies were included, i.e. direct moxibustion (38 articles), indirect moxibustion (120 articles), mild moxibustion (203 articles), pressing moxibustion (3 articles), moxibustion with moxa box (100 articles), warming needle moxibustion (55 articles) and electric moxibustion (17 articles). Other moxibustion therapies (20 articles) were moxibustion along the governor vessel, umbilicus

Discussion

In TCM, tumors result from the interaction of various etiologies such as exogenous factors, seven emotional factors, improper diet, zangfu dysfunction and body weakness. In summary, the failure of the antipathogenic qi to conquer the pathogenic factors is the root of tumors/masses in etiology and pathogenesis of TCM [14]. Tumors/masses in the human body may constantly consume the antipathogenic qi. The more declined the antipathogenic qi is, the worse the pathogenic factors are. Hence, cancer

Summary

In moxibustion treatment for cancer, the acupoints of the conception vessel and the governor vessel, as well as the back-shu points of the bladder meridian were predominant. These acupoints act on supporting the antipathogenic qi, replenishing qi and regulating the spleen and the stomach for the deficiency conditions of illness specially. In addition, the clinical manifestations of various cancers were considered in treatment. The rule of acupoint selection in moxibustion focused on “the

Uncited References

[28]

Uncited Floats

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Declaration of competing interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

CRediT authorship contribution statement

Ru-fang PAN:conceptualization, writing- original draft preparation, software. Shu-ya MA and Tian-yu GAO: investigation, data curation. Li-jia PAN and Chun-sheng JIA: visualization, methodology, supervision. Fei-cheng ZHANG: software, validation. Tian-yu LI: writing- reviewing and editing.

Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China: 81173343; Scientific Research Capacity Improvement Project of Hebei University of Chinese Medicine: KTZ2019012; Scientific Program of Hebei

Role of the funder/sponsor

The study sponsor National Natural Science Foundation of China, Scientific Research Capacity Improvement Project of Hebei University of Chinese Medicine, Scientific Program of Hebei Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Doctoral Research Fund Project of Hebei University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Natural Science Foundation of Hebei Province had no role in the design and conduct of the study; collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data; preparation, review,

State of human/animal rights

No need to declare in this paper.

Data sharing statement

You can contact the corresponding author for the data.

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