MONDAY, Sept. 22 (HealthDay News) -- In the management of breast cancer patients who are experiencing treatment-related hot flashes, night sweats and excessive sweating, acupuncture may be an effective alternative to conventional pharmacotherapy, according to research presented at the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology's 50th Annual Meeting held Sept. 21 to 25 in Boston.

Eleanor Walker, M.D., of the Henry Ford Hospital Department of Radiation Oncology in Detroit, and colleagues studied 47 patients who were undergoing treatment with either Tamoxifen or Arimidex and experiencing at least 14 hot flashes per week. They randomly assigned the patients to receive either acupuncture or the antidepressant venlafaxine for 12 weeks.

Although both groups experienced similar significant reductions in vasomotor and depressive symptoms, the researchers found that the venlafaxine group was likely to report adverse effects such as nausea, dry mouth, headache, difficulty sleeping, dizziness, double vision, increased blood pressure, constipation, fatigue, anxiety, sleep disturbances and feeling "spaced out." The acupuncture group reported only beneficial effects such as increased energy, clarity of thought, sexual desire, and overall sense of well-being.

"Our study shows that physicians and patients have an additional therapy for something that affects the majority of breast cancer survivors and actually has benefits, as opposed to more side effects," Walker said in a statement. "The effect is more durable than a drug commonly used to treat these vasomotor symptoms and, ultimately, is more cost-effective for insurance companies."

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