Head and neck cancer (HNC) affects various regions of the mouth, oropharynx, nasopharynx, and salivary glands, with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) being the most common type of HNC [1].

The main treatment options for SCC are surgery, radiotherapy (RT), and chemotherapy, alone or in combination. In general, three main primary treatments are available for locally advanced disease, used in approximately 60 % of patients with SCC: (1) chemoradiotherapy (CRT) with surgery reserved for residual disease; (2) surgery with resection and reconstruction followed by adjuvant RT or chemoradiotherapy (CRT); or (3) induction chemotherapy followed by definitive CRT and/or surgery [2].

However, these treatments can cause debilitating sequelae that can have a major impact on the patient’s quality of life. Surgical resection of the lesion can cause deformities in the head and neck region, leading to limited range of motion, muscle stiffness, pain, and paresthesia, among other symptoms. RT can compromise high-risk areas located very close to critical structures such as the skull base, spinal cord, brainstem, and optic apparatus, affecting saliva production, taste, hearing, oral function, speech, and swallowing. Chemotherapy can cause multiple symptoms, such as fatigue, anxiety, nausea, and gastrointestinal disorders [3].

Palliative care can be adopted during and after cancer treatment to minimize sequelae of the different treatment options, greatly improving the patient’s quality of life. Complementary therapies are integrated into cancer care services to help patients cope with these symptoms [3].

As part of palliative care, acupuncture is recommended as a non-pharmacological treatment, but it remains a controversial topic in complementary medicine [4].

Patients and healthcare professionals have had positive experiences with acupuncture over the years. In oncology, acupuncture is especially attractive for treating side effects of surgery, RT, and chemotherapy, which do not have standard treatments or are not as effective as expected by patients, such as neurotoxicity, nausea, pain, and xerostomia [5].

This study aimed to assess the scientific literature on the use of acupuncture in palliative care for the management of sequelae of HNC treatment.