Massage Therapy in Reducing Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy in Patients With Gastrointestinal or Breast Malignancies

Inclusion Criteria:

All gastrointestinal malignancies where the patient received oxaliplatin for cancer treatment or breast malignancies where patients have received docetaxel or paclitaxel for cancer treatment
Greater or equal to 6 months from last chemotherapy treatment
Must understand and read English, sign a written informed consent, and follow protocol requirements
Must be willing to come to MD Anderson Main Campus (Texas Medical Center) for intervention
Lower extremity neuropathy per patient report attributable to oxaliplatin, docetaxel or paclitaxel (neurotoxic chemotherapeutic agent) as determined by patient history of neurotoxic agent administration and no history of other attributable causes such as diabetic neuropathy
Patient self-report neuropathy score greater than or equal to 3 on a 0 to 10 numeric scale and/or grade 2 or 3 neuropathy (according to the National Cancer Institute Common Toxicity Criteria 4 point grading scale)

Within 2 weeks prior to study enrollment the patient must be on a stable dose of medications for management of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) symptoms; for at least 2 weeks prior to enrollment stable dose is defined as:

No change in drug class
Increases or decreases that are less than or equal to 20% of the total dosage; all drug classes are allowed

Exclusion Criteria:

Patients with previously diagnosed peripheral neuropathy pre-dating their neurotoxic chemotherapy administration or from causes other than chemotherapy
Platelets less than 50,000 within 6 months prior to study enrollment or
Neutrophil count less than 500 within 6 months prior to study enrollment
Deep venous thrombosis (DVT) diagnosed within 12 months of study enrollment or history or untreated lower extremity DVT, bone metastases, currently active skin infection, or lymphedema currently involving the treatment field
Women who are pregnant at time of enrollment; pregnancy will be assessed at enrollment using urine pregnancy test
Diagnosis of diabetes