en Radiation Biology Radiation Biology <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="text-justify:newspaper"><span style="text-kashida-space:50%"><span style="line-height:119%"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="color:black"><span lang="en-US" style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="color:#1f497d"><span style="font-style:italic"><span style="font-weight:bold"><span style="language:en-US">Background:</span></span></span></span></span></span> <span lang="en-GB" style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="color:black"><span style="language:en-GB">To evaluate the effect of acupuncture and moxibustion combined with modified Yangxin Anshen Decoction on insomnia in cancer patients with heart and spleen deficiency during external beam radiotherapy. </span></span></span></span><span lang="en-GB" style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="color:#1f497d"><span style="font-style:italic"><span style="font-weight:bold"><span style="language:en-GB">Materials and Methods: </span></span></span></span></span></span><span lang="en-GB" style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="color:black"><span style="language:en-GB">Seventy adult cancer patients receiving radiotherapy were randomly assigned to an intervention group (n=35) or a control group (n=35). The intervention group received acupuncture, moxibustion, and modified Yangxin Anshen Decoction during the radiotherapy course, whereas the control group received the decoction alone. Sleep quality and emotional status before the start and at the end of radiotherapy were assessed using various sleep quality monitoring systems as well as depression scales. Cerebral blood flow was evaluated by transcranial Doppler ultrasonography.&nbsp;</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span lang="en-GB" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; text-align: justify; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="color:#1f497d"><span style="font-style:italic"><span style="font-weight:bold">Results: </span></span></span></span><span lang="en-GB" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; text-align: justify; font-size: 9pt;">Both groups showed reduced PSQI scores at the end of radiotherapy compared with baseline (P<0.05). However, the intervention group had shorter sleep latency, higher sleep efficiency, fewer disturbances, longer sleep duration, less daytime dysfunction, reduced hypnotic use, and better subjective sleep quality than the control group (P<0.05). The intervention group exhibited longer total sleep time, a higher proportion of deep sleep, and fewer nocturnal awakenings compared with the control group (P<0.05 or P<0.01). Sleep latency was significantly shorter (P<0.001), and cerebral blood flow indices were significantly improved (P<0.01) in the intervention group. </span><span lang="en-GB" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; text-align: justify; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="color:#1f497d"><span style="font-style:italic"><span style="font-weight:bold">Conclusion: </span></span></span>Acupuncture and moxibustion combined with modified Yangxin Anshen Decoction administered during radiotherapy can significantly improve insomnia, alleviate radiotherapy-related emotional distress, and enhance cerebral blood flow in cancer patients, providing a valuable integrative approach for managing sleep disorders during radiotherapy.</span></div> Acupuncture therapy, Chinese traditional, sleep initiation and maintenance disorders, radiotherapy, neoplasms, sleep quality. 535 543 http://ijrr.com/browse.php?a_code=A-10-1-1532&slc_lang=en&sid=1 L. Ding dingle1984@163.com 7900319475328460033703 7900319475328460033703 Yes College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Changsha Medical University, Changsha, 410219, China G. Luo 7900319475328460033704 7900319475328460033704 No Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Xiangtan Chinese Medicine Hospital, Xiangtan, 411100, China