Acupuncture Treatment for Hot Flashes Study

Patients with prostate cancer who are / were treated with hormonal treatment and developed hot flashes as a side effect are offered Acupuncture as an investigational intervention. The treatment is performed twice a week for four weeks, then once a week for the following six weeks. Acupuncture was done according to specific guidelines and mapping.

Inclusion criteria

• Treatment for prostate cancer using hormonal ablation therapy
• Average of three or more hot flashes a day
• Performance Status (Karnofsky ≥ 60)
• Patients must be ≥ 18 years of age
• No other clinically significant disease
• Signed study-specific consent form prior to study entry

Exclusion criteria

• Initiation of a new chemotherapy regimen, immunotherapy; or initiation/ cessation of hormonal therapy during the study or for 3 weeks before the start of the study
• Pharmacological treatment of hot flashes or use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (unless the dose and patients' condition have been stable for 4 weeks)
• Skin infections
• Patients who had acupuncture treatment in the 6 weeks prior to entering the study, or acupuncture given specifically for the treatment of hot flashes in the previous 6 months.