Therapists' Reading List

Gentle touch massage therapy is a most profound way of communicating with frail people, writes Tania Shaw, Executive Manager of Oncology Massage Limited, a not-for-profit training organisation for therapists who want to work with people with cancer.

Massage & Cancer Integrative Oncology in Australia 2016: Mapping Service Provision and Exploring Unmet Needs Smith, C., Hunter, J., Ussher, J. M., Delaney, G., Grant, S., Templeman, K., Parton, C., Kellett, A. (2017) Australian organisations are increasingly providing Integrative Oncology (IO) services, signalling the need for clearer national guidance and polices. Discrepancies continue between what cancer survivors are doing or seeking, and the IO services they can access. Survivorship and wellness clinics are in urgent need of development. Coordinated strategic planning between all providers and insurers is required if the long-term needs of cancer survivors are to be adequately and equitably met. Clinical practice guidelines on the evidence-based use of integrative therapies during and after breast cancer treatment Greenlee H 1,2, DuPont-Reyes MJ 3, Balneaves LG 4, Carlson LE 5, Cohen MR 6,7, Deng G 8, Johnson JA 9, Mumber M 10, Seely D 11,12, Zick SM 13,14, Boyce LM 15, Tripathy D 16. CA Cancer J Clin. 2017 May 6;67(3):194-232. doi: 10.3322/caac.21397. Epub 2017 Apr 24 Patients with breast cancer commonly use complementary and integrative therapies as supportive care during cancer treatment and to manage treatment-related side effects. However, evidence supporting the use of such therapies in the oncology setting is limited. This report provides updated clinical practice guidelines from the Society for Integrative Oncology on the use of integrative therapies for specific clinical indications during and after breast cancer treatment, including anxiety/stress, depression/mood disorders, fatigue, quality of life/physical functioning, chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting, lymphedema, chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy, pain, and sleep disturbance. Clinical practice guidelines are based on a systematic literature review from 1990 through 2015. Music therapy, meditation, stress management, and yoga are recommended for anxiety/stress reduction. Meditation, relaxation, yoga, massage, and music therapy are recommended for depression/mood disorders. Meditation and yoga are recommended to improve quality of life. Acupressure and acupuncture are recommended for reducing chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting. Acetyl-L-carnitine is not recommended to prevent chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy due to a possibility of harm. No strong evidence supports the use of ingested dietary supplements to manage breast cancer treatment-related side effects. In summary, there is a growing body of evidence supporting the use of integrative therapies, especially mind-body therapies, as effective supportive care strategies during breast cancer treatment. Many integrative practices, however, remain understudied, with insufficient evidence to be definitively recommended or avoided. The effect of massage on immune function and stress in women with breast cancer--a randomized controlled trial Billhult A 1, Lindholm C , Gunnarsson R , Stener-Victorin E . Auton Neurosci. 2009 Oct 5;150(1-2):111-5. doi: 10.1016/j.autneu.2009.03.010. Epub 2009 Apr 18. A single full-body light pressure effleurage massage has a short-term effect on NK cell activity, systolic blood pressure and heart rate in patients with breast cancer. However, the long-term clinical importance of these findings needs to be further investigated. Natural killer cells and lymphocytes increase in women with breast cancer following massage therapy Hernandez-Reif M , Field T , Ironson G , Beutler J , Vera Y , Hurley J , Fletcher MA , Schanberg S , Kuhn C , Fraser M . Int J Neurosci. 2005 Apr;115(4):495-510. Women diagnosed with breast cancer received massage therapy or practiced progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) for 30-min sessions 3 times a week for 5 weeks or received standard treatment. The massage therapy and relaxation groups reported less depressed mood, anxiety, and pain immediately after their first and last sessions. By the end of the study, however, only the massage therapy group reported being less depressed and less angry and having more vigor. Dopamine levels, Natural Killer cells, and lymphocytes also increased from the first to the last day of the study for the massage therapy group. These findings highlight the benefit of these complementary therapies, most particularly massage therapy, for women with breast cancer. 

Read about Oncology Massage in industry publications and mainstream media, and hear firsthand from our Facilitators about their experiences providing oncology massage.

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I met Jack at the very beginning of my work in oncology massage (pre OMT) and boy did I learn some powerful lessons with him.