Acupuncture/Moxibustion at points of the spleen and stomach meridians assist in treating postoperative cancer patients by regulating immune function: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

IMPORTANCE: Postoperative cancer patients often suffer from gastrointestinal dysfunction and immune suppression, hindering recovery, extending hospital stays, and raising complication risks. In traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), the spleen and stomach represent a systemic concept central to digestive function, closely linked to growth, aging, immunity, and disease progression. Regulating immunity is the key in cancer care, with acupuncture on spleen-stomach meridians serving as an effective immunotherapeutic approach. These acupoints are often used alone or combined with Ren, Du, or tumor-specific meridians. While theoretically applicable to all cancers, this review systematically evaluates recent literature to address: Which tumors are primarily targeted by spleen-stomach meridian acupuncture alone? How does it modulate immune function? And what is its efficacy as adjuvant cancer therapy? Objective: To evaluate the adjuvant therapeutic effect of Acupuncture and/or Moxibustion at primarily selecting acupoints from the Spleen and Stomach meridians on cancer based on current randomized controlled trials (RCTs). DATA SOURCES : Chinese (CNKI, VIP, Wanfang) and English (PubMed, EBSCO, Web of Science, Cochrane Library) databases were searched from inception to November 1, 2025. DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS: Data were independently screened and extracted. RCT quality was assessed using the Cochrane risk-of-bias tool. Random-effects models were used for meta-analysis, and evidence quality was graded using GRADE. RESULTS: Cluster analysis of the correlations among the nine acupoints resulted in four categories, among which the category comprising SP6, SP9, ST36, ST37, and ST39 was used most frequently, indicating it as the primary combination of acupoints. Eleven randomized controlled trials (RCTs) involving 862 patients were included. Regarding clinical efficacy (I² = 0%, P = 0.81), the total effective rate was significantly higher in the experimental group (conventional treatment plus acupuncture/moxibustion) than in the control group (conventional treatment alone) [OR = 2.98, 95% CI (1.75, 5.06), P < 0.0006]. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Existing evidence suggests that stimulating acupoints along the spleen and stomach meridians through acupuncture can improve immune function and gastrointestinal motility in patients with digestive tract cancers. Currently, this method is only used for gastrointestinal tumors. However, based on traditional Chinese medicine theory and research findings, stimulating these acupoints alone may help treat cachexia associated with various types of tumors and improve survival rates. Following the TCM principle of "few but precise" in acupoint selection, this approach warrants further investigation for the treatment of other types of tumors.