Acupuncture may alleviate nocturia in men treated for prostate cancer

edited by Sadie Harley, reviewed by Andrew Zinin

Acupuncture may reduce nocturia in patients treated for prostate cancer, according to a research letter published online in JAMA Oncology.

Kevin T. Liou, M.D., from the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, and colleagues conducted a randomized trial to evaluate acupuncture (10 weekly standardized treatments) relative to usual care for nocturia in prostate cancer survivors. The analysis included 60 participants treated with prostate cancer who reported two or more nocturia episodes every night for the past month.

The researchers found that acupuncture (40 participants) produced a greater reduction in nocturia episodes than the waiting-list control (20 participants) by the end of treatment at week 10 (between-group difference, −1.13), which persisted up to one month posttreatment (difference, −0.85).

Acupuncture was also associated with greater reduction in International Prostate Symptom Score total scores versus control at week 10 (difference, −3.76), which persisted until week 14 (difference, −3.39).

Among those assigned to acupuncture, the most common adverse events were dizziness (mild, 2) and insomnia (mild, 2), with no cases reported in the control group.

“The promising effects of acupuncture on nocturia warrant further investigation in larger trials to address a substantial unmet need among survivors of prostate cancer,” the authors write.

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