THE’acupuncture significantly reduces joint pain in postmenopausal women with a breast cancer at an early stage and treated with an aromatase inhibitor, depending on the results of a study presented at the “San Antonio breast cancer Symposium” in the United States.
Researchers at the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center at NewYork-Presbyterian / Columbia University Medical Center in the United States recruited 226 postmenopausal women with early-stage breast cancer, who at the time of the study were being treated with a class of drugs called aromatase inhibitors, used to fight so-called “hormone-dependent” cancers representing 80% of breast cancer.
The most common side effects of hormone therapy that patients may experience are hot flashes, the tired and the bone loss, joint pain and stiffness.
“Aromatase inhibitors are among the most common and effective treatments for postmenopausal women diagnosed with hormone receptor positive breast cancer. However, many patients suffer from side effects that cause them to miss treatment or completely stop treatment, ”said Dawn Hershman, head of the breast cancer program at the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center at NewYork-Presbyterian / Columbia University Medical Center. “We need to identify strategies to control these side effects, the most common of which is joint pain and stiffness.”
Acupuncture reduces side effects of treatment
During the study, patients had acupuncture sessions twice a week for six weeks, followed by a weekly session for another six weeks.
59 participants served as a control group and followed “mock” sessions.acupuncture.
The results of the study showed that the participants who were accompanied by acupuncture reported much lower pain levels than the control group, the study reports.
“We were very happy to see that acupuncture had lasting benefits without significant side effects in a large, rigorous clinical trial,” said Dawn Hershman. “We hope that this data will not only encourage healthcare practitioners to discuss acupuncture as a complementary treatment for patients receiving aromatase inhibitors, but also increase the willingness of healthcare systems to reimburse these patients. for acupuncture. “
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