A new study has found that acupuncture is effective in reducing joint pain and stiffness in breast cancer patients who are being treated with commonly used hormonal therapies.

Researchers at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center randomly assigned 43 women receiving an aromatase inhibitor for early breast cancer to receive either true acupuncture or sham acupuncture twice a week for six weeks. All had also reported musculoskeletal pain.

They found that the participants being treated with true acupuncture experienced a significant improvement in joint pain and stiffness over the course of the study. In addition, 20 percent of the patients who had reported taking pain relief medications reported that they no longer needed to take these medications following acupuncture treatment.
Participants who received the sham acupuncture did not report improvements in their pain.

"This study suggests that acupuncture may help women manage the joint pain and stiffness that can accompany aromatase inhibitor treatment," said the study’s lead author, Dr. Katherine Crew.

Aromatase inhibitor therapy is a common and effective treatment for early-stage, hormone-receptor-positive breast cancer in post-menopausal women. Previous studies have found that about half of women undergoing the treatment report joint pain and stiffness.