The SWOG study involved 226 breast cancer patients from 11 cancer centers. Patient participants, who were required to be unfamiliar with acupuncture, were divvied up into three separate arms: one received a specially designed standardized acupuncture protocol; one received “sham” acupuncture, in which practitioners superficially inserted needles in non-therapeutic locations; and a third group received no treatment as part of the study. Participants in the first two arms received twice-weekly treatments for six weeks then weekly maintenance for another six weeks. Results consistently showed the patients who received true acupuncture had less pain than other participants and that the pain relief continued for as long as 24 weeks.

Co-author Dr. Heather Greenlee, a Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center epidemiologist, naturopathic physician and director of the Integrative Medicine Program at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance called the study a “milestone.”

“It is wonderful that we now have data from a large-scale, well-conducted trial showing that acupuncture works for managing a very specific type of pain,” she said. “It’s a milestone for SWOG and the National Cancer Institute to support this kind of trial, and it’s really great for patients to have solid data to inform their treatment decisions. We’re excited that a nonpharmacological agent like acupuncture has been shown to effectively reduce pain long term.”

Aromatase inhibitors: a mixed blessing

Aromatase inhibitors are commonly prescribed to early stage postmenopausal breast cancer patients with estrogen-receptor-positive disease following standard treatments like surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. The daily pill further tamps down the body’s ability to produce estrogen, essentially cutting off the cancer’s food supply.

But like some dark German fairy tale, there’s a trade-off. The daily pill allows you to live longer (hopefully) but ages you before your time. As estrogen dwindles, patients experience all the side effects that come with advanced age: loss of bone density, loss of libido, insomnia, hot flashes, night sweats and, most especially, joint stiffness and pain in feet, knees, hips, shoulders, wrists and hands. This ongoing pain makes it difficult for many patients to walk, sit, climb stairs or perform simple tasks like typing or driving, let alone exercise, which is often prescribed to breast cancer patients to reduce their risk of recurrence.

As a result, up to 50 percent of women stop taking the AI before the recommended five years; fewer still are able to endure it for 10. Studies confirm that women who stop the drug have “reduced disease-free survival.”

“Patients tell me they feel much older,” said Dr. Julie Gralow, a Fred Hutch clinical researcher and SCCA breast cancer oncologist who enrolled some of her patients in the study. “They tell me, ‘I feel slower and my joints aren’t moving the same. I feel like a creaky old lady.’ That goes along with the vaginal dryness and all the other side effects.”