Electro-acupuncture versus battle field auricular acupuncture in breast cancer survivors with chronic musculoskeletal pain: subgroup analysis of a randomized clinical trial

Purpose Chronic musculoskeletal pain is common and debilitating among breast cancer survivors. The PEACE trial demonstrated that electro-acupuncture (EA) and battle field auricular acupuncture (BFAA) both reduced pain more than usual care (UC) in cancer survivors. However, the comparative effectiveness between EA and BFAA among breast cancer survivors is unknown. Methods EA and BFAA received ten weekly treatments. UC was offered ten EA treatments after week 12. The primary endpoint was change in mean Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) pain severity from baseline to week 12. We analyzed the subset of 165 (46%) trial participants with a breast cancer primary diagnosis. We conducted constrained linear mixed model analyses, which constrained all arms to a common pre-randomization baseline mean. Model-based mean estimates at weeks 12 and 24 were compared between arms using model contrasts. Results Among 165 breast cancer survivors, common pre-randomization mean pain severity was 5.35 [95% Confidence Interval (CI) 5.04, 5.66]. At week 12, BPI pain severity score was 2.69 (2.26. 3.13) in EA, 3.60 (3.17, 4.02) in BFAA, and 5.06 (4.47, 5.65) in UC. EA reduced pain severity significantly more than BFAA at weeks 12 [− 0.90 (− 1.45, − 0.36), p = 0.001] and 24 [− 0.82, (− 1.38, − 0.27), p = 0.004]. EA and BFAA significantly improved both Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) – Global Health physical health and mental health component scores at week 12 compared to UC. Mild toxicities were reported. Conclusion EA was more effective than BFAA at reducing pain severity, but both similarly improved physical and mental health scores. Breast cancer survivors with chronic musculoskeletal pain may consider EA before BFAA. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02979574. https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02979574