The effect of contact needle therapy on fatigue in patients with cancer in palliative care: A study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

INTRODUCTION: Almost all patients with end-of-life cancer experience cancer-related fatigue; however, there are only a few known effective coping methods. OBJECTIVES: We will conduct a prospective, multi-center, single-blinded randomized controlled study to evaluate the efficacy of acupuncture for cancer-related fatigue in patients with end-of-life cancer. METHODS: We will enroll 120 patients with cancer hospitalized in a palliative care unit or receiving consultation from a palliative care team in four hospitals. We will add acupuncture treatment; specifically, contact needle therapy (CNT), consisting of an intervention per week period to the usual care. The primary outcome measure will be the Cancer Fatigue Scale (CFS) score while the secondary outcome measures will be the Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) score for fatigue, pain, and salivary amylase levels. CONCLUSION: We will evaluate the possibility of using acupuncture therapy, that is, CNT, in relieving fatigue sensation in patients with advanced cancer. TRIAL REGISTRATION: UMIN000028304, registered on July 21st, 2017; https://upload.umin.ac.jp/cgi-open-bin/ctr_e/ctr_view.cgi?recptno=R000032401.

[Sigmoid colon cancer with intussusception prolapsing through the anus treated by elective laparoscopic radical surgery].

An 86-year-old man was brought in ambulance to our hospital because of sudden hematochezia and abdominal pain during defecation. Intestinal prolapse approximately 80mm from the anus and a type 1 tumor 50mm in size on the mucosal surface were detected. The intestinal prolapse was manually repositioned, and the reduction of the intussusception was confirmed by computed tomography (CT). Following colonoscopy and abdominal-enhanced CT, a sigmoid colon cancer without distant metastases was detected. Elective laparoscopic radical surgery was performed. The present study described a rare case of sigmoid colon cancer with an intussusception prolapsing through the anus and highlighted the treatment strategy by reviewing 48 previous cases. The treatment strategy employed was as follows:first, manual repositioning of the intestinal prolapse was attempted;and second, the presence of intussusception was confirmed by CT. In cases when repositioning of the intussusception was not possible, even with the use of an endoscope or contrast enema, emergency surgery was required.

Role of Kampo medicine in integrative cancer therapy.

Clinical trials to date demonstrate that standard cancer treatments are currently the most efficient treatments for large numbers of cancer patients. Cancer treatments will increasingly require approaches that allow patients to live with cancer, by increasing their natural healing power and tumor immunity, as well as attenuating the progression of their cancers, instead of only attacking the cancer cells directly. Complementary and alternative medicine, including Kampo medicine, compensates for the drawbacks of western medicine by increasing patients' self-defense mechanisms. In Japan, clinicians who have studied both western medicine and Kampo treat cancer patients by fusing the two medical systems into a unitary one. The goal of the system is to assist the functional maintenance and recovery of the living body complex with the physical, mental, social, and spiritual balance, rather than addressing direct antitumor effects. In this review, we describe the usefulness of Kampo medicine, especially juzentaihoto, and outline the reports on evidence, in addition to the report on an attitudinal survey about the use of Kampo medicine in cancer treatment in Japan.

Significance of Kampo, traditional Japanese medicine, in supportive care of cancer patients.

The current standard treatment for cancer is a multidisciplinary therapy whereby various types of treatment are properly combined. Chemotherapy with multiple anticancer drugs is now common, and traditional, complementary, and alternative therapies are adopted as supportive measures. Medical care in Japan is distinguished by the ability for patients to access both Western and Kampo medical cares at the same time. There is a high degree of trust in the safety of Kampo therapies because they are practiced by medical doctors who are educated with fundamental diagnosis of Western medicine. Highly reliable clinical studies are being published, demonstrating that palliative or supportive care for cancer patients using Kampo preparations alleviates adverse effects of chemotherapy or radiotherapy. This paper reports the circumstances around cancer care in Japan where traditional therapeutic Kampo formulas are used for patients undergoing cancer treatment with cutting-edge chemotherapy, specifically to alleviate adverse effects of anticancer drugs.

Efficacy of contact needle therapy for chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy.

Cancer chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) often results in discontinuation of treatment with potentially useful anticancer drugs and may deteriorate the patient's quality of life. This study investigated the effect of contact needle therapy (CNT) on CIPN caused by responsible chemotherapeutic agents as taxanes and oxaliplatin. Six patients with CIPN were treated with CNT. The severity of CIPN was evaluated using the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) version 4 and FACT/GOG-Ntx before and after CNT. After the treatment, all of the patients showed some improvement. Four patients showed apparent improvement in breakthrough pain. One of the cases had difficulty in walking because of CIPN in lower extremities, but after 2 times of CNT, he could walk without pain and could continue the chemotherapy. Although its putative mechanisms remain elusive, CNT has strong potential as an adjunctive therapy in CIPN. Well-designed clinical trials with adequate sample size and power are necessary to confirm the findings of this study.

Pseudotumor of the omentum with a fishbone nucleus.

A 23-year-old Japanese man was admitted with a chief complaint of abdominal pain. He was previously healthy, and his past medical history was unremarkable. Local tenderness and rebound tenderness at McBurney's point were elicited. Abdominal roentgenography was non-diagnostic. Ultrasonography and computed tomography showed a tumor with a central core. Based on a diagnosis of appendicitis with omental inflammation or an omental tumor, laparotomy performed. Intraoperatively, no site of gastrointestinal perforation was detected; however, a 5-cm omental granuloma was identified that proved to have a fishbone nucleus on pathological examination. The postoperative course was uneventful, and upper gastrointestinal endoscopy and barium enema were unremarkable. A large solitary omental pseudotumor is rare, and the clinical course in this case was atypical compared with the usual course of intestinal perforation by a foreign body and formation of an intra-abdominal granuloma.