Supportive cancer care with qigong

Abstract

The objective of this chapter is to systematically review the evidence for the effectiveness of qigong in supportive cancer care. Fifteen databases were searched from inception through May 2009. Controlled trials testing qigong in patients with cancer of any origin that assessed clinical outcome measures were considered. The selection of studies, data extraction, and validations were performed independently by two reviewers. Risk of bias was assessed using Cochrane criteria. Six randomized clinical trials (RCTs) and 5 non-randomized controlled clinical trials (CCTs) met our inclusion criteria. The six RCTs tested the effects of qigong as supportive cancer care compared with usual care or herbal medicine and showed no significant differences in most outcome measures. All of the 5 CCTs showed favourable effects of qigong. Two trials suggested effectiveness in prolonging life of cancer patients while one failed to do so. All of the CCTs had a high risk of bias. Collectively, the existing trial evidence does not show convincingly that qigong is effective for supportive cancer care. Future studies should be of high quality with a particular emphasis on designing an adequate control intervention. © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2010.