Oncology Acupuncture: Precision Medicine Meets Patient-Centered Care

The Precision Medicine Initiative of 2015, together with a growing focus on patient-centered care, has challenged the U.S. health care system to provide the correct treatment to the correct individual patient rather than to a collective population. This demonstrates that acupuncture-with its history as an individualized therapy and with growing evidence-based clinical findings-is the ideal model for personalized medicine within oncology care. The current author and colleagues used previously conducted oncology acupuncture trials for pain, hot flashes, and insomnia to demonstrate that precise delivery of acupuncture might depend on a patient's genetics. Individual preferences and perceived evidence surrounding treatments might also factor into patient treatment choices. Further effectiveness evidence comparing acupuncture to drugs or cognitive-behavioral therapy provides insight on the relative benefit or harm of each treatment, which, in turn, can help clinicians and patients to choose the best treatment plans centered on patients' goals. To advance precision oncology acupuncture research, appropriate biomarkers and psychologic attributes should be incorporated into adequately powered and well-designed clinical trials to evaluate how acupuncture can be delivered to the correct patients.