Impact of fire dragon cupping comprehensive moxibustion on hot flashes related to endocrine therapy in prostate cancer patients.

OBJECTIVE: To observe the improvement effect of fire dragon cupping comprehensive moxibustion based on the theory of five-element mutual-containment on hot flashes related to endocrine therapy in prostate cancer patients. METHODS: A total of 60 prostate cancer patients with hot flashes related to endocrine therapy were divided into the treatment group and the control group according to the random number table, with 30 cases in each group. The patients in control group received routine disease observation and emotional nursing, while the patients in experimental group received fire dragon cupping comprehensive moxibustion based on the theory of five-element mutual-containment in addition to the treatment of the control group. The frequency of hot flashes and night sweats, the severity of hot flashes, the scores of traditional Chinese medicine syndromes, prostate-specific antigen (PSA), and testosterone were compared between the two groups. RESULTS: After 4 weeks and 8 weeks of treatment, the frequency of hot flashes and night sweats in the experimental group was lower than that in the control group (P<0.05). Moreover, the results of the repeated measures analysis of variance show that the inter-group effect, time effect, and interaction effect were all statistically significant(P<0.05). After 8 weeks of treatment, the severity of hot flashes and night sweats, and the scores of traditional Chinese medicine syndromes (hot flashes and night sweats, feverish sensation in the chest, back, and palms and soles, soreness and weakness of the waist and knees, restlessness of the five centers, dry mouth and throat) in the experimental group were lower than those in the control group (P<0.05). There was no significant difference in testosterone and PSA levels between the two groups (P>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Fire dragon cupping comprehensive moxibustion based on the theory of five-element mutual-containment could help to improve the frequency of hot flashes and related TCM symptoms in prostate cancer patients with hot flashes related to endocrine therapy.