Zhen Ci Yan Jiu. 1993 ; 18(3): 174-7.

[Effect of acupuncture on T-lymphocyte and its subsets from the peripheral blood of patients with malignant neoplasm]

Yuan J, Zhou R.

School of Medicine of W.C.U.M.S.

Effect of acupuncture on the T-lymphocyte and its subsets from the peripheral blood of patients with malignant neoplasm has been researched in this study. 51 patients were divided into two groups: one in acupuncture treatment and the other without any treatment. 48 healthy adults were also studied as normal control group. The results showed that the percentages of OKT3+, OKT4+, OKT8+ cells in the peripheral blood of the 51 patients were lower than those of the normal adults respectively. After the acupuncture treatment, the percentages of OKT3+, OKT4+, OKT8+ cells were obviously higher than those before acupuncture; the control group of patients showed no significant variation. This result revealed that acupuncture seemed to have more affect on OKT4+ cells than on OKT8+ cells. From our study we believe that acupuncture can be used as one of the many treatments for patients with cancer.