Massage therapy for cancer palliation and supportive care: a systematic review of randomised clinical trials.
BACKGROUND
Massage is a popular adjunct to cancer palliation. This systematic review is aimed at critically evaluating all available randomised clinical trials of massage in cancer palliation.


METHODS
Six databases were searched to identify all trials of classical massage for cancer patients. Studies of other types of massage, e.g. reflexology, aromatherapy, were excluded. Fourteen trials met all inclusion criteria.


CONCLUSIONS
Collectively, they suggest that massage can alleviate a wide range of symptoms: pain, nausea, anxiety, depression, anger, stress and fatigue. However, the methodological quality of the included studies was poor, a fact that prevents definitive conclusions.


CONCLUSIONS
The evidence is, therefore, encouraging but not compelling. The subject seems to warrant further investigations which avoid the limitations of previous studies.
Ernst
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Complementary Medicine, Peninsula Medical School, Universities of Exeter and Plymouth, 25 Victoria Park Road, Exeter EX2 4NT, UK. Edzard.Ernst@pms.ac.uk
D006801:Humans; D008405:Massage; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D010166:Palliative Care / Q000379:methods*; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D012107:Research Design / Q000592:standards