Reflexology Reduces Stress/Pain, Increases Energy During Breast Cancer RT

Significant improvements were seen in all evaluable metrics, including energy, anxiety, and pain, following integrative reflexology in patients undergoing radiation therapy for breast cancer, according to Heather Zinkin, MD.

CancerNetwork® spoke with Zinkin, chief of radiation medicine at Huntington Hospital of the Northwell Health Cancer Institute, about the data presented at the 2024 American Society of Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) Annual Meeting from a trial evaluating reflexology in patients being treated with radiotherapy for breast cancer. Specifically, she highlighted what the study revealed regarding the efficacy of this intervention on this patient group.

Zinkin began by expressing excitement on behalf of her research team that 21 months of data, which encompassed 560 patient encounters, were included for analysis. She followed by stating that significant improvements were made in all evaluable metrics, with particular emphasis on stress, pain, and energy.

She further explained that stress and pain were reduced by 40% and 24%, respectively, with energy levels increasing by 33%––all of which she said was clinically meaningful. She concluded by highlighting anecdotally reported improvements in radiotherapy experience among evaluable patients.

Investigators of the quality improvement study assessed 560 patient encounters from April 2022 through December 2023 to evaluate the impact of reflexology on patient-reported levels of stress, pain, and energy. Additional findings revealed a reported overall well-being improvement by 33.3% (P < .0001), with many patients reporting improvements to treatment-induced neuropathic pain. Investigators concluded that this integrative care approach may improve patient satisfaction, treatment-related adverse effects, and survival.

Transcript:

We were thrilled that we tabulated the first 21 months of data, which included 560 patient encounters, and we found significant improvements in all metrics, including energy, anxiety, and pain. Looking specifically at the numbers, stress was reduced by 40%, pain decreased by 24%, and energy increased by 33%. This was clinically meaningful, and patients anecdotally reported overall improvement in the whole experience of receiving radiation therapy.

Reference

Zinkin HD, Kostroff K, Dimisa D, et al. Reflexology as an integrative approach to improve stress, energy, and pain in women receiving radiotherapy for breast cancer. Int J Radiat Oncol. 2024;120(suppl 2):e423. doi:10.1016/j.ijrobp.2024.07.944