Correspondence: Do Randomized Acupuncture Studies in Patients With Cancer Need a Sham Acupuncture Control Arm?

Abstract

TO THE EDITOR:
We read with interest the recently published
study from Molassiotis et al.1 In this article, the authors compared the
efficacy of acupuncture with usual care in the management of fatigue
in patients with breast cancer previously treated with adjuvant
chemotherapy. The authors are to be commended for undertaking a
large, randomized study to evaluate the therapeutic impact of acupuncture
on fatigue. On the basis of their “pragmatic” randomized
controlled study, they conclude that acupuncture is an effective intervention
for improving cancer-related fatigue and quality of life in this
patient population. However, we believe that the absence of an adequate
control such as a sham acupuncture group calls their conclusions
into question........