Evidence map›Paper›PMID 18648963›Full record

Trial reportJournal of cancer survivorship : research and practice2007

Pilot study of acupuncture for the treatment of joint symptoms related to adjuvant aromatase inhibitor therapy in postmenopausal breast cancer patients.

Katherine D Crew, Jillian L Capodice, Heather Greenlee, Arlyn Apollo, Judith S Jacobson, George Raptis, Kimberly Blozie, Alex Sierra, Dawn L Hershman

Registry-linked trialAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Journal of cancer survivorship : research and practice, 2007. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT03836872 (Acupuncture for Joint Symptoms in Patients With Breast Cancer), which is not on this map. Cited by 38 papers, 13 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
38citing papers in PubMed, 13 pooled it
13.9field-weighted citation impact, top 2% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT03836872 naterminatednot on this mapstarted 2019, after this paper: background citation

Acupuncture for Joint Symptoms in Patients With Breast Cancer: A Randomised Controlled Trial

TypeinterventionalSponsorThe Hong Kong Polytechnic UniversityRan2019 to 2022Enrolled64ConditionsFemale Breast CancerArmsAcupuncture
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

38 citing papers in PubMed, 13 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 85 citations in OpenAlex.

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  11. Systematic review of acupuncture in cancer care: a synthesis of the evidence.Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology · 2013
    Pooled it
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  17. Phase II study of glucosamine with chondroitin on aromatase inhibitor-associated joint symptoms in women with breast cancer.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2013
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Katherine D CrewDepartment of Medicine, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.
Jillian L Capodice
Heather Greenlee
Arlyn Apollo
Judith S Jacobson
George Raptis
Kimberly Blozie
Alex Sierra
Dawn L Hershman
Columbia University · USColumbia University Irving Medical Center · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionAromatase inhibitors (AIs) have become the standard of care for the adjuvant treatment of postmenopausal, hormone-sensitive breast cancer. However, patients receiving AIs may experience joint symptoms, which may lead to early discontinuation of this effective therapy. We hypothesize that acupuncture is a safe and effective treatment for AI-induced arthralgias.

methodsPostmenopausal women with early-stage breast cancer who had self-reported musculoskeletal pain related to adjuvant AI therapy were randomized in a crossover study to receive acupuncture twice weekly for 6 weeks followed by observation or vice-versa. The intervention included full body and auricular acupuncture, and a joint-specific point prescription. Outcome measures included the Brief Pain Inventory-Short Form (BPI-SF), Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis (WOMAC) index, the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General (FACT-G) quality of life measure, and serum levels of inflammatory markers, IL-1 beta and TNF-alpha.

resultsTwenty-one women were enrolled and two discontinued early. From baseline to the end of treatment, patients reported improvement in the mean BPI-SF worst pain scores (5.3 to 3.3, p = 0.01), pain severity (3.7 to 2.5, p = 0.02), and pain-related functional interference (3.1 to 1.7, p = 0.02), as well as the WOMAC function subscale and FACT-G physical well-being (p = 0.02 and 0.04, respectively). No adverse events were reported. DISCUSSION/

conclusionsIn this pilot study, acupuncture reduced AI-related joint symptoms and improved functional ability and was well-tolerated. IMPLICATIONS FOR CANCER SURVIVORS: Musculoskeletal side effects are common among breast cancer survivors on adjuvant AI therapy, therefore, effective treatments are needed for symptom relief and to improve adherence to these life-saving medications.

Indexed as

AcupunctureAgedAromatase InhibitorsBreast NeoplasmsChemotherapy, AdjuvantEmploymentFemaleHealth StatusHumansInflammationJoint DiseasesMiddle AgedPain MeasurementPilot ProjectsPostmenopauseRacial GroupsAromatase Inhibitors

Identifiers

PMID18648963
OpenAlexW1964610204

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.