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A Literature Review Examining the Effects of Complementary and Alternative Therapies on Cancer Pain Management
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Spring 2025
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2025-05
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Cancer is one of the most common chronic health conditions treated among individuals in the U.S. and requires extensive symptom management. Of the symptoms experienced by the cancer patient population, pain is one of the most prevalent. The purpose of this systematic review was to assess the effectiveness of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in managing pain for both adult and child populations with cancer. Several databases were searched using the keywords children, child, adult, CAM, complementary and alternative medicine, integrative medicine, CIM, nonpharmacologic interventions, pain, pain management, therapy, cancer, and oncology. Articles published between 2010-2022 that focus on cancer pain for both children and adults using nonpharmacological therapies for symptom management were included. Eighteen articles were included in the analysis. The study purpose, sample, design, and results were extracted from each of the articles. Comparisons were made and commonalities were analyzed across the sample using the matrix method. Among the CAM domains, manipulative and body-based interventions were utilized the most for pain management. Massage therapy was found to be most effective in this type. This was consistent with the findings for the pediatric population in terms of the most effective CAM domain and therapy. For adults, energy therapies were the most effective CAM domain for reducing pain. The research also showed promise with the use of VR as a newer therapy for pain. Although the use of CAM is slowly growing, various therapies used for cancer pain management in both children and adults show promising results. CAM needs to be utilized and encouraged more by medical professionals for this population. CAM is also not widely discussed or taught in nursing programs and should be incorporated as a part of the education future nurses receive. Learning about effective CAM therapies would provide more depth to a nurse’s practice by enhancing the knowledge and care they can provide for their patients.