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Across the English speaking world there is an explosion of interest in and use of massage therapy as an adjunct to traditional cancer treatments. What massage therapists and their cancer patient clients have known experientially for years is now being validated in a blizzard of medical research studies. Between the years 1900 and 1990 there were an average of 31 citations per year in the scientific literature referring to cancer and massage or oncology and massage. From 1991 to 2000 there were 294 citations per year. From 2001 to 2005 there were 1106 per year. From 2006 to 2008 there were 1370 citations per year.
Multiple studies now link gentle non-invasive massage for cancer patients with significant reductions in pain, fatigue, nausea, depression, and anxiety. Study after study reports improvements in some or all of these symptoms by unexplained mechanisms following massage interventions.
It is probable that research will eventually establish that the missing link between massage and cancer symptom improvements is stress reduction. Having cancer is one of life's most stressful experiences. Stress makes everything bad worse. For many people, massage is the specific antidote to stress. Thus, for many people, massage reduces symptoms. (Reference this Google search on "massage relieve stress")
To make use of the oncology massage information explosion, therapists search the scientific literature. They look for specific information for many purposes, including:
- To keep generally current in the fields of cancer treatment and oncology massage therapy.
- To convince physicians and nursing staff that massage will benefit patients.
- To learn more about specific conditions encountered on the massage table - eg, lymphedema, cording, radiation skin reactions.
- To justify the establishment of massage programs in cancer hospitals and oncology medical practices.
The information is available from many sources. The mother lode is PubMed, the NIH sponsored online compendium of most medical literature published in English in the past century (or so). PubMed is more than current. It not only reports articles as soon as they are published in the journals, it also reports many of them in advance of publication. Try it here.
A second major source is Google Scholar covering all scientific journals in English. It offers 14,900 citations for massage + "cancer or oncology" between 1900 and 2008. It is a good place to begin more detailed work. Try it here.
With varying lag times, subsidiary sources extract, slice and dice the PubMed and Google information. A selection of those of particular interest to massage therapists includes:
Touch Research Institute - Site search on "cancer"
Massage Therapy Foundation - Massage Therapy Research Database.
Reuter's Health Information - popular press interpretations of new research at cancerpage.com.
Tracy Walton's bibliographies from this widely known teacher of oncology massage - Clinical Papers, Research Papers and Texts
M.D. Anderson Cancer Center - Massage & Related Bodywork Detailed Scientific Review
Of course, the broadest and most up-to-date sources are
PubMed and Google Scholar.
S4OM, as a service to its members, tracks PubMed and Google and from the hundreds of studies reported each month selects those of particular interest to oncology massage therapists. Click here for the Selected Oncology Massage Research Reports (Members Only)
There are a number of classic research reports that are often cited or quoted by leading instructors and practitioners, in the media and within S4OM. The sheer volume of current massage research makes them hard to identify. Click here for Research Classics.
