Trial will assess pressure wristbands for reducing chemo effects

Acupressure is to be trialled as an alternative treatment for acute and delayed nausea caused by chemotherapy treatment.

Many cancer patients suffer from nausea and vomiting as side-effects of chemotherapy and researchers from the University of Manchester will investigate whether acupressure wristbands can provide an effective drug-free treatment.

Around 700 patients from cancer clinics in Manchester, Liverpool and Plymouth will be divided into three groups receiving different treatments – self-administered acupressure wristbands, placebo wristbands that do not press on the correct spot or a course of antiemetic drugs.

The study will also explore whether acupressure is more cost-effective and whether patients' lives are improved by fewer visits to GP surgeries.

Trial leader Alexander Molassiostis, professor of cancer and supportive care at the University of Manchester, believes acupressure could help to improve the daily life of those suffering from chemo-induced nausea.

However, he said: 'Further research is needed to confirm that acupressure is a useful and cost-effective method of treatment of treatment.'