Effectiveness of Traditional Acupuncture in Reducing the Severity of Hot Flashes Reported by Breast Cancer Patients

Autor: D.M. Serra, C. Welsh, Carol B. White, Stewart B. Fleishman, Manjeet Chadha
Rok vydání: 2021
Předmět:
Zdroj: International Journal of Radiation Oncology*Biology*Physics. 111:S73-S74
ISSN: 0360-3016
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijrobp.2021.07.180
Popis: PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE(S) Breast cancer patients often experience hot flashes (HF) and other vasomotor symptoms that negatively impact their quality of life. Patients inclined to an integrative approach may seek alternatives to prescription drugs for managing the intensity and frequency of HF. In the literature, the benefit of acupuncture in reducing HF has been variably reported, and reasoned for having some degree of placebo effect. The goal of our randomized study is to compare the efficacy of traditional acupuncture (TA) to sham acupuncture (SA) in reducing the severity of HF in female patients with breast cancer. MATERIALS/METHODS In this IRB approved study, breast cancer patients that experienced > 10 episodes of HF/ week were randomly assigned to receive either TA or SA. The technique of SA used the validated Streitberger placebo needles. The protocol for patient sessions in the TA and SA groups was the same, twice a week sessions for 5 weeks followed by once a week session for 4 weeks, and additional one-month follow up. All patients completed the MenQOL survey on HF at baseline, end of treatment, and at one-month follow up. In this analysis, patient reported MenQOL scores were categorized as 0 = not bothered at all, 1-2 = mildly bothered, 3-4 = moderately bothered, and 5-6 = extremely bothered. RESULTS Based on patients prospectively recorded weekly hot flash diary, 54 breast cancer patients were identified as experiencing > 10HF/week. These patients were randomly assigned and prospectively treated as follows: 28 patients received TA and 26 patients received SA. The median age of the study population was 55 years. Seven women withdrew from study before the scheduled acupuncture. At baseline, 100% of patients receiving TA reported MenQOL scores of moderately to extremely bothered by HF. The incidence of this severity dropped to 77.3% at the end of treatment, and further dropped to 72.7% at their one-month follow up. In the SA group, 90% of patients at baseline reported MenQOL scores of moderately to extremely bothered by HF. The incidence of this severity dropped to 78.6% at the end of treatment, but reversed with an increase to 93.8% at their one- month follow up, similar to their baseline pre-SA scores. Further, based on the scores of the MenQOL on HF we observed that TA was most effective for patients reporting highest MenQOL scores (5-6) i.e., extremely bothered by HF. In this subset of patients, TA resulted in a 41% reduction of extremely bothersome HF symptoms. CONCLUSION Our data shows that acupuncture has a therapeutic role in managing HF without a confounding placebo effect. This is an excellent alternative for treating breast cancer patients who are wary of taking medical management for reducing symptoms of HF. Further research is needed on assimilating a collaborative integrative oncology approach in the multidisciplinary management of breast cancer.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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