In a recent study, postmenopausal women with breast cancer and aromatase inhibitor-linked joint pain receiving twelve weeks of true acupuncture experienced a reduction in pain at fifty-two weeks in comparison with controls, thus indicating its long-term advantages. The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of true acupuncture to waiting list control or sham acupuncture in decreasing joint pain caused by aromatase inhibitors over 52 weeks.

In a randomized clinical trial, early-stage breast cancer-diagnosed female patients who had a score of three or greater on Brief Pain Inventory Worst Pain (BPI-WP) item (score range, 0-10; greater scores depict greater pain) and were using aromatase inhibitors were included. The obtained information was evaluated. Volunteers were randomly assigned to one of the three groups: True acupuncture (n = 110), Sham acupuncture (n = 59), or Waiting list control (n = 57).

The true acupuncture and sham acupuncture procedures included a 6-week intervention with two sessions weekly (12 sessions total), followed by another 6-week intervention with 1 session weekly. Volunteers who were arbitrarily placed in the waiting list control group were not given any treatment. Overall, 10 acupuncture sessions were made available to every subject, to be utilized any time between 24 and 52 weeks.

The 52-week BPI-WP score served as the major outcome, and it was compared by the trial group utilizing linear regression, adjusted for stratification characteristics and baseline pain. Out of 226 women, 84.5% (n = 191) completed the trial. Mean [SD] baseline BPI-WP score was 6.7 [1.5]).

In a linear regression, contrasted with the sham acupuncture, the true acupuncture group's 52-week mean BPI-WP scores were 1.08 points reduced. Compared to the waiting list control group, it was 0.99 points reduced in the true acupuncture group.

In addition, the true acupuncture group's 52-week BPI pain interference ratings were considerably lower than those of the sham acupuncture group  (difference, 0.58). Notably, 13.2% (n = 12) true acupuncture, 11.3% (n = 6) sham acupuncture, and 10.6% (n = 5) waiting list control group patients reported receiving acupuncture between 24 and 52 weeks.

Among postmenopausal females with breast cancer suffering from aromatase inhibitor-connected arthralgias, a 12-week intervention of true acupuncture compared with sham acupuncture or waiting list control led to a sustained decrease in joint pain at fifty-two weeks. Therefore, true acupuncture seems to be a useful strategy for the regression of joint pain.