{"entity":{"id":"aromatherapy-cancer","kind":"technology","name":"Aromatherapy","aka":[],"tldr":"Scented essential oils, alone or with massage, are pleasant and may briefly ease anxiety or nausea, but the trials are small and a Cochrane review found no reliable evidence that adding aromatherapy to massage does anything more than massage alone.","summary":"Aromatherapy uses essential oils by inhalation or in massage oil. The NCI PDQ summary and a 2016 Cochrane review of aromatherapy and massage for symptom relief in cancer found limited evidence of short-term benefit for anxiety, depression and pain, of low quality, and no evidence that aromatherapy adds to the effect of massage. Inhaled ginger or peppermint oil has been tested in small trials for nausea with mixed results. Oils applied to skin can cause contact dermatitis, and some (for example undiluted tea tree or citrus oils) irritate irradiated skin; ingesting essential oils is unsafe. As a low-cost comfort measure in chemotherapy suites and hospices it is reasonable; as a treatment it is unproven.","status":"emerging","asOf":"2026-09-10","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aromatherapy","links":[{"label":"Cochrane: massage with or without aromatherapy for symptom relief in people with cancer (2016)","url":"https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD009873.pub3"},{"label":"NCI PDQ: Aromatherapy with essential oils","url":"https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/treatment/cam/hp/aromatherapy-pdq"}],"tags":["complementary","supportive-care","evidence:insufficient"],"related":[],"cancers":[],"sections":["supportive-care"],"technologies":["integrative-oncology","massage-therapy-cancer"],"targets":[],"drugs":[],"companies":[],"institutions":[],"pathways":[],"terms":[],"trials":[],"people":[],"bottlenecks":["b-toxicity-qol"],"keyPapers":["paper-shin-cochrane-database-syst-rev"],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":[],"principle":"Odour molecules act on the olfactory system and limbic structures involved in emotion and nausea; any effect beyond pleasantness and expectation is unproven.","strengths":["Pleasant and cheap","Low risk when oils are diluted and not ingested"],"limitations":["Low-quality, small trials","No added benefit over massage alone","Skin irritation, especially on irradiated skin"]},"route":"/technologies/aromatherapy-cancer/","neighbours":{"section":[{"id":"supportive-care","kind":"section","name":"Supportive Care & Survivorship","route":"/fronts/supportive-care/"}],"technology":[{"id":"integrative-oncology","kind":"technology","name":"Evidence-based integrative oncology","route":"/technologies/integrative-oncology/"},{"id":"massage-therapy-cancer","kind":"technology","name":"Massage therapy in cancer care","route":"/technologies/massage-therapy-cancer/"}],"bottleneck":[{"id":"b-toxicity-qol","kind":"bottleneck","name":"Toxicity and quality of life are undervalued","route":"/bottlenecks/b-toxicity-qol/"}],"paper":[{"id":"paper-shin-cochrane-database-syst-rev","kind":"paper","name":"Massage with or without aromatherapy for symptom relief in people with cancer","route":"/key-papers/paper-shin-cochrane-database-syst-rev/"}]}}