Author: Ting Bao1,2,3, W Iris Zhi4, Raymond E Baser5, Q Susan Li6, Matthew Weitzman6, Erin F Gillespie7, Mark Robson4, Jun J Mao6
Affiliation:
1 Integrative Medicine Service, Department of Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA. tingbao@gmail.com.
2 Breast Medicine Service, Solid Tumor Division, Department of Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA. tingbao@gmail.com.
3 Integrative Medicine Service, Department of Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, 321 E. 61st Street, 4th Floor, New York, NY, 10065, USA. tingbao@gmail.com.
4 Breast Medicine Service, Solid Tumor Division, Department of Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA.
5 Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA.
6 Integrative Medicine Service, Department of Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA.
7 Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA, USA.
Conference/Journal: Breast Cancer Res Treat
Date published: 2023 Aug 24
Other:
Special Notes: doi: 10.1007/s10549-023-07072-1. , Word Count: 262
Purpose:
Chronic musculoskeletal pain is common and debilitating among breast cancer survivors. The PEACE trial demonstrated that electro-acupuncture (EA) and battle field auricular acupuncture (BFAA) both reduced pain more than usual care (UC) in cancer survivors. However, the comparative effectiveness between EA and BFAA among breast cancer survivors is unknown.
Methods:
EA and BFAA received ten weekly treatments. UC was offered ten EA treatments after week 12. The primary endpoint was change in mean Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) pain severity from baseline to week 12. We analyzed the subset of 165 (46%) trial participants with a breast cancer primary diagnosis. We conducted constrained linear mixed model analyses, which constrained all arms to a common pre-randomization baseline mean. Model-based mean estimates at weeks 12 and 24 were compared between arms using model contrasts.
Results:
Among 165 breast cancer survivors, common pre-randomization mean pain severity was 5.35 [95% Confidence Interval (CI) 5.04, 5.66]. At week 12, BPI pain severity score was 2.69 (2.26. 3.13) in EA, 3.60 (3.17, 4.02) in BFAA, and 5.06 (4.47, 5.65) in UC. EA reduced pain severity significantly more than BFAA at weeks 12 [- 0.90 (- 1.45, - 0.36), p = 0.001] and 24 [- 0.82, (- 1.38, - 0.27), p = 0.004]. EA and BFAA significantly improved both Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) - Global Health physical health and mental health component scores at week 12 compared to UC. Mild toxicities were reported.
Conclusion:
EA was more effective than BFAA at reducing pain severity, but both similarly improved physical and mental health scores. Breast cancer survivors with chronic musculoskeletal pain may consider EA before BFAA.
Trial registration:
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02979574. https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02979574.
Keywords: Acupuncture; Breast cancer; Pain; Quality of life.
PMID: 37612534 DOI: 10.1007/s10549-023-07072-1
