title: A literature review about effectiveness of massage therapy for cancer pain.
abstract: This literature review explores the effectiveness of massage therapy to reduce cancer pain. As part of the review, systematic literature search was carried out on various electronic databases and specialised journals. Included are 19 research-based articles and 8 review articles. The review suggests that cancer has become a common health problem in the world and most of the cancer patients are going through intense and unbearable pain. Studies have reported that most of the cancer patients' pain reduced with therapeutic massage. Seventy-three per cent of cancer patients use massage therapy in the USA. Few studies are available in the context of the developing world related to massage therapy and we could not find any study in the Pakistani context. There is a need to conduct an interventional study about the effectiveness of massage therapy to control cancer pain in developing countries such as Pakistan.
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing and Midwifery, Aga Khan University, Karachi. salima.somani@ucentralasia.org
authors.forename: Salima
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Somani
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing and Midwifery, Aga Khan University, Karachi.
authors.forename: Samima
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Merchant
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing and Midwifery, Aga Khan University, Karachi.
authors.forename: Sharifa
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lalani
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D008405:Massage; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000150:complications*; D010146:Pain / Q000209:etiology*; D059408:Pain Management; D016896:Treatment Outcome