S1200: Acupuncture, Sham Acupuncture, or Wait List for Joint Symptoms Related to Aromatase Inhibitors in Pts W/Early-Stage Breast Cancer

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

* Patients must be women with histologically confirmed primary invasive carcinoma of the breast (Stage I, II, or III) with no evidence of metastatic disease (M0); patients must have undergone modified radical mastectomy or breast-sparing surgery; patients must have recovered from all side-effects of the surgery
* Patients must be positive for estrogen receptor (ER) and/or progesterone receptor (PgR) as determined by institutional standard
* Patients must currently be taking a third-generation aromatase inhibitor (AI) - anastrozole, letrozole, or exemestane for at least the previous 90 days prior to registration with plans to continue for at least an additional 1 year after registration; patients may have switched AIs provided that they have been on a stable dose for at least 90 days; concurrent trastuzumab (Herceptin) is allowed
* Patients must have completed the S1200 Brief Pain Inventory-Short Form (BPI-SF) within 14 days prior to registration; patients must have a worst pain score of at least 3 on the Brief Pain Inventory (item #2) that has started or increased since starting AI therapy
* Patients must be willing to submit blood and urine samples for serum hormones (estradiol, FSH, LH), inflammatory biomarkers (serum TNFα, IL-6, IL-12, CRP and urine CTX-II), urine AI metabolites, and DNA analysis (CYP19A1), and must be given the option to consent to use of remaining specimens for future translational medicine studies; baseline samples must be obtained prior to beginning intervention

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

* Patients must be postmenopausal, as defined by at least one of the following:

  * ≥ 12 months since the last menstrual period
  * Prior bilateral oophorectomy
  * Current use of a gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonist
  * Previous hysterectomy with one or both ovaries left in place (or previous hysterectomy in which documentation of bilateral oophorectomy is unavailable) AND follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) values consistent with the institutional normal values for the postmenopausal state; if patient is under the age of 55, FSH levels must be obtained within 28 days prior to registration
* Patients must have a Zubrod performance status of 0 to 1
* Patients must not have a severe bleeding disorder
* Patients must not have concurrent medical/arthritic disease that could confound or interfere with evaluation of pain or efficacy including: inflammatory arthritis (e.g., rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus, spondyloarthropathy, psoriatic arthritis, polymyalgia rheumatica), gout, episodes of acute monoarticular arthritis clinically consistent with pseudogout, Paget disease affecting the study joint (knees/hands), a history of septic arthritis or avascular necrosis or intra-articular fracture of the study joint, Wilson disease, hemochromatosis, alkaptonuria, or primary osteochondromatosis
* Patients must not have a history of bone fracture or surgery of the afflicted knees and/or hands within 6 months prior to registration
* Patients must not have a history of illness that, in the opinion of the investigator, might confound the results of the study or pose additional risk to the patient
* Patients must be able to complete study questionnaires in English or Spanish
* No other prior malignancy is allowed except for adequately treated basal cell or squamous cell skin cancer, in situ cervical cancer, ductal carcinoma in situ \[DCIS\], adequately treated Stage I or II cancer from which the patient is currently in complete remission, or any other cancer for which the patient has been disease-free for \> 5 years

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

* See Disease Characteristics
* Patients must not have had prior acupuncture treatment within the past 12 months or for AI-induced joint symptoms at any time
* Patients must not be on narcotics within 14 days of registration
* Patients must not have received oral corticosteroids, intramuscular corticosteroids, or intra-articular steroids within 28 days prior to registration
* Patients must not have received topical analgesics (e.g., capsaicin preparations) or any other analgesics (e.g., opiates or tramadol, with the exception of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs \[NSAIDs\] and acetaminophen) within 14 days prior to registration
* Patients must not have received or implemented any other medical therapy, alternative therapy, or physical therapy for the treatment of joint pain/stiffness within 28 days prior to registration; therapeutic massage is allowed