Acupuncture in supportive cancer care – safe practice, evidence, and survivorship

In this episode, journalist and TCM practitioner Anne Hardy speaks with Beverley Ann de Valois, a leading researcher and acupuncturist in integrative oncology. They discuss how acupuncture can help people living with and beyond cancer, which indications are best supported, and when practitioners must be especially cautious. The conversation centres on a new international, peer‑reviewed expert opinion that updates safe‑practice recommendations for acupuncture in cancer care. 

What you’ll learn

• How acupuncture fits into multidisciplinary supportive and palliative cancer care in the UK. 
• Which symptoms and late effects acupuncture can safely help (e.g., nausea/vomiting, pain, fatigue, hot flushes, xerostomia, anxiety, sleep disturbance). 
• Practical safety thresholds and “do not treat” scenarios (blood counts, radiotherapy fields, infection risk, red flags). 
• How the field has changed over 25 years.
• Ways acupuncture can improve quality of life during and after cancer treatment. 

For practitioners: quick safety highlights

• Do not needle if neutrophils < 0.5 × 10⁹/L or platelets < 20 × 10⁹/L; use extra caution below 0.9 × 10⁹/L neutrophils.
• Avoid needling into areas irradiated within the last month or with residual skin changes, oedema, or broken skin. 
• Defer treatment in profound immunosuppression/isolation (e.g., post–bone marrow transplant) unless authorised by the medical team. 
• Refer urgently for oncological red flags (e.g., suspected cord compression, sepsis, uncontrolled bleeding, acute neurological deficits). 

About the guest

Beverley Ann de Valois is a licensed acupuncturist, researcher, and author with more than 25 years’ experience in supportive cancer care. She helped establish some of the first UK acupuncture clinics dedicated to cancer survivors and is the author of *Acupuncture and Cancer Survivorship*. Her work focuses on safe, evidence‑informed acupuncture for people living with and beyond cancer. 

About the host

Anne Hardy is a journalist and TCM practitioner based in Frankfurt/Main, Germany, and a presenter for the German Association for Chinese Medicine (AGTCM) podcast series “Between Heaven and Earth.”

Links

• Book: https://uk.singingdragon.com/products/acupuncture-and-cancer-survivorship
• Guest website: https://beverleydevalois.com/
• Expert opinion (open access): https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10940387