- You are here:
- Home »
- Blog »
- breast cancer »
- Acupuncture Improves Chemobrain in Breast Cancer
Acupuncture Improves Chemobrain in Breast Cancer
Acupuncture Improves Chemobrain in Breast Cancer, according to the research posted below. Sadly, chemotherapy-induced, aka chemobrain, aka chemofog, is one of the most frustrating side effects experienced by cancer survivors.
I say this as a long-term survivor of a different cancer, who has lived with chemobrain since my conventional therapies ended in 1995.
Fortunately, there are many evidence-based non-conventional chemobrain therapies.
5 Ways to Fight Chemo Brain
Have you been diagnosed with Breast Cancer? What therapies have you had? Scroll down the page, post a question or comment, and I will reply to you ASAP.
Hang in there,
David Emerson
- Cancer Survivor
- Cancer Coach
- Director PeopleBeatingCancer
Acupuncture improves breast cancer survivors’ perceived cognitive impairment
Real and sham acupuncture were more effective at improving breast cancer survivors’ perceived cognitive impairment compared with usual care, while real acupuncture was superior to sham acupuncture in improving objective cognitive function, according to results from the randomized ENHANCE phase II clinical trial presented at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS), held December 9-12, 2025.
More than 40% of breast cancer survivors experience cancer-related cognitive difficulties, which are sometimes referred to as “brain fog” or “chemo-brain,” according to Jun J. Mao, MD, MSCE, the Laurance S. Rockefeller chair in integrative medicine and chief of integrative medicine and wellness service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. “Cancer-related cognitive difficulties can make performing daily tasks more difficult and can reduce overall quality of life,” Mao explained. “Unfortunately, there are very few treatments that are backed by evidence for this problem.”
Previously, Mao and his colleagues found that insomnia was associated with cognitive difficulties in over 1,000 breast cancer survivors and that, ina prior trial, acupuncture improved insomnia and may improve cognitive function compared with cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I)…
The clinical trial enrolled 260 women with a history of stage 0-3 breast cancer who completed treatment, showed no signs of cancer, and self-reported moderate or greater cancer-related cognitive difficulties and insomnia. Participants were randomly assigned to receive real acupuncture (129), sham acupuncture (70), or usual care (61). Real or sham acupuncture treatments were delivered once weekly for 10 weeks, and cognitive function was evaluated at baseline, 10 weeks, and 26 weeks…
“These two measures capture different aspects of cognition and often don’t align,” Mao said. “In our study, among participants who reported moderate to severe cognitive difficulties and met eligibility for enrollment, only 30% met the criteria for objective cognitive impairment as measured by the HVLT. This mismatch highlights the importance of using both tools together as they provide a more complete picture.”
After 10 weeks, those in the real acupuncture and sham acupuncture arms showed clinically meaningful improvement in perceived cognitive impairment as measured by FACT-Cog PCI scores: a 10.3-point improvement and 10.5-point improvement, respectively, compared with a 4.8-point improvement in the usual care group.
Real acupuncture also showed a twofold improvement at reducing perceived cognitive impairment compared with usual care at both 10 weeks and 26 weeks, while the difference between real and sham acupuncture was not significant at either point.
“The fact that real and sham acupuncture produced similar effects in improving perceived cognitive function may be because sham acupuncture, although not stimulating the body in the same way, still offers benefits like personal attention, relaxation, and a sense of being cared for, all of which can improve how people feel,” Mao explained.
While real acupuncture improved HVLT scores, sham acupuncture had no difference on objective cognition function. At week 10, real acupuncture was significantly better than sham acupuncture with a 4-point difference in HVLT scores.
Overall, real acupuncture and usual care showed similar results at improving objective cognitive function. However, in the subset of patients who were found to have impaired objective cognitive function at baseline, real acupuncture was associated with a promising trend in improving memory compared with usual care and sham acupuncture.
“Previous research using brain scans in people with memory issues or with pain suggests that real acupuncture may more effectively stimulate specific areas of the brain involved in memory, attention, and learning,” Mao explained. “While our study also shows that acupuncture needling may have potential benefit for improving objective cognitive function for those with some impairment, future studies are needed to specifically verify this.”
Adverse events were mostly mild and limited to the real acupuncture arm with bruising being the most common (3.1% of participants). Outside of acupuncture, the study also found that insomnia was significantly linked to objective cognitive performance and that sleep fragmentation-the number of awakenings and awakening time-was significantly associated with worse performance on objective cognitive tests.
“Cognitive difficulties for women with breast cancer are complex and involve finding ways to address both the distress associated with perceived cognitive abilities as well as objective function…”
Acupuncture Improves Chemobrain in Breast Cancer Acupuncture Improves Chemobrain in Breast Cancer Acupuncture Improves Chemobrain in Breast Cancer