Zhongguo linchuang yanjiu (Jun 2023)
Acupuncture with benefiting the kidney and consolidating the essence in the improving hot flashes after endocrine therapy for breast cancer: a controlled clinical study of 40 cases
Abstract
Objective To investigate whether acupuncture with benefiting the kidney and consolidating the essence could improve the hot flash and the quality of life of breast cancer patients with endocrine therapy. Methods From December 2019 to December 2020, 40 patients with hormone receptor positive breast cancer diagnosed in Jiangsu Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine were included, and all the patients had hot flashes after endocrine therapy. The patients were divided into treatment group and control group by random number table method (n=20, each) . The treatment group received acupuncture for benefiting the kidney and consolidating the essence for 10 weeks and self-regulation, while the control group received self-regulation only. The scores of hot flashes, frequency of hot flashes, and quality of life assessment scale (FACT-B) were evaluated before and the 5th and 10th weeks of treatment. Results In the treatment group, the number of hot flashes and the hot flashes fraction at 5 and 10 weeks of acupuncture treatment were significantly lower compared with those before treatment (P＜0.05) . In the control group, the treatment did not change significantly by 5 weeks (P＞0.05) and decreased significantly by 10 weeks (P＜0.05) . The number of hot flashes and the hot flush fraction in the treatment group at 5th and 10th week of treatment were significantly lower than those in the control group (P＜0.05) . The physical, emotional, add-on status, social family and functional status scores in FACT-B were significantly improved in the treatment group at 10th week of acupuncture (P＜0.05) , but did not change in the control group after treatment (P＞0.05) , and the scores improved significantly in the treatment group compared with those in the control group (P＜0.05) . Conclusion Acupuncture with benefiting the kidney and consolidating the essence for 10 weeks can significantly improve the frequency and severity of hot flashes in patients undergoing endocrine therapy for breast cancer, as well as improve the quality of patient survival.
Keywords
