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Status unknownNCT04739631Updated Apr 27, 2021

Efficacy of Acupuncture on Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy

An interventional study of acupuncture and minimal acupuncture in Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy (CIPN), sponsored by Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taiwan. Status unknown at 1 site in Taiwan. Open to participants aged 20 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2021-04-27.

Sponsored by Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taiwan · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment

The sponsor has not verified this record recently (last verified Apr 2021), so the status shown — last known as Recruiting — may be out of date.
Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
94
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
20 Years and older
Sex
All
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Study summary

The purpose of this study is to assess the neurological efficacy of acupuncture in patients with cancer who experienced peripheral neuropathy, which is induced by chemotherapy.

Read the detailed description

Background: Chemotherapy may lead to peripheral neuropathy up to 40% in cancer survivors, especially in some types of patients with cancer. The effect of acupuncture, an ancient Chinese medicine technique, was recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO) in the treatment of several diseases. The postulated mechanisms associated with acupuncture in analgesia or neurogenesis are still under investigation. Considering a moderate recommendation for duloxetine in the treatment of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) based on based on neuropathic pain, and a few treatment options with evidence for CIPN, acupuncture might be another option. Nowadays, only small scale pilot studies provided initial proof of acupuncture in CIPN, particularly in decreasing neuropathic pain and improving neurotoxicity, the study aims to determine the beneficial effects of acupuncture on CIPN with a large-scale, multicenter, randomized sham-controlled clinical trial. Furthermore, the aim of the study will provide evidence for the clinical therapeutic guideline of CIPN in the future.

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Conditions studied

  • Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy (CIPN)

Keywords

  • acupuncture
  • chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy
  • neuropathic pain
  • von-Frey monofilament test
  • taxane
  • platinum
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In context

Peripheral Nervous System Diseases

1,003 studies on the registry are indexed under Peripheral Nervous System Diseases; 177 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 94 is above the median of 60 across 768 interventional studies indexed under Peripheral Nervous System Diseases.

Browse Peripheral Nervous System Diseases studies →

Lead sponsor

Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taiwan is the lead sponsor of 325 studies on the registry; 72 are open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

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Who can participate

Ages eligible
20 Years and older
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

The study will enroll patients with a symptom of peripheral neuropathy, including paresthesia, numbness, glove-and-stocking sensory loss distribution or pain in four limbs, and meet the following inclusion criteria:

  1. All adult cancer patients (Age≧20-year-old) who received chemotherapy regimens, including adjuvant and neoadjuvant therapy
  2. Stage I-III cancer patients
  3. Completed chemotherapy regimens more than3 months, including Taxanes (paclitaxel or docetaxel), platinum (cisplatin, oxaliplatin, carboplatin)
  4. Baseline von Frey Monofilament test (Target force at hand) ≧ 0.07gms
  5. Baseline von Frey Monofilament test (Target force at foot) ≧ 0.4gms
  6. Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status ≦3
  7. Grading of peripheral sensory neuropathy in National Cancer Institute- common terminology criteria for adverse events,v5.0 (NCI-CTCAE5) ≧1
  8. Patients were restricted acupuncture treatment for one month before recruitment
  9. Written patient informed consent

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion criteria:

Participants with any of the following conditions will be excluded:

  1. Uncontrolled Diabetic Mellitus, HbA1c≧7% is inappropriate[19].
  2. Diabetic neuropathy diagnosed before receiving chemotherapy
  3. Neuropathy from any type of nerve compression (e.g., carpal/tarsal tunnel syndrome, radiculopathy, spinal stenosis, brachial plexopathy)
  4. Concomitant with duloxetine, or another analgesia, including Pregabalin, Venlafaxine, Minocycline, Topical gel, Oxycodone, Naloxone, Cannabinoids, and Angiotensin II type 2 receptor antagonist
  5. Severe hemorrhagic coagulopathy or bleeding tendency
  6. Unstable cardiovascular disease
  7. Severe skin lesions around the treatment sites The researchers will exclude any participants considered to be inappropriate for the study.
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Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
Double (Participant, Outcomes assessor)
Enrollment
94 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    acupuncture group

    The acupuncture group and the sham-controlled group will receive three therapeutic sessions each week for four weeks, and another two sessions each week for four weeks (a total of 20 sessions at eight weeks). Each group will be followed-up for four weeks, to evaluate the persistent efficacy of acupuncture.The needle set for the sham acupuncture group and the real acupuncture group will use the CASOON Acupuncture Needle (Wuxi Jiajian Medical Instrument Company, limited), which needle size is 0.3 mm×30 mm. The depth of needling varied based on the patient's body sizes. After insertion, the needles were manually manipulated to obtain the De Qi sensation, which was defined as the acupuncturist feeling a tugging or grasping sensation from the needle manipulation and the patient feeling soreness, fullness, heaviness, or local distension at local needling sites.

    Other: acupuncture

  • Placebo comparator
    sham-controlled group

    The sham acupuncture group will be performed by superficial needling with less than 4mm depth. The needling location is about 0.5 cm away from the acupoints. Both the real acupuncture group and the sham acupuncture group received the same treatment protocol.

    Other: minimal acupuncture

  • No intervention
    waitlist-control group

    As an waitlist-control group, no acupuncture will be performed.

Interventions

  • Otheracupuncture

    use disposable sterile needles to insert to the acupuncture point

  • Otherminimal acupuncture

    The sham-controlled group will be performed with minimal acupuncture(superficial needling) at non- acupoints.

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What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. FACT-Neurotoxicity subscale(NtxS)

    The primary outcome will be the change FACT-Neurotoxicity subscale(NtxS) from baseline to 20 sessions at 8th weeks. The neurotoxicity subscale from the FACT/GOG-NTX-13(version 4) contains 13 items assessing numbness, tingling, and discomfort in the hands or feet, difficulty hearing, tinnitus, joint pain or muscle cramps, weakness, or trouble walking, buttoning buttons, or feeling small shapes when placed in the hand. Items are scored from 0-4 (0 = not at all; 4 = very much) and summed (total score range = 0-52). Since no published data are defining a cut-point for determining a clinically important change in the FACT/GOG Ntx score, we defined a 4 point change as a clinically meaningful improvement in patient-reported CIPN-related neurotoxicity outcome . The authorized translated traditional Chinese version will be purchased in this study.

    Time frame: It will be assessed before the first intervention in the first week, after the 12th intervention in the 4th week , after the 20th intervention in the 8th week, and the follow-up assessment in the end of the 12th week. Each intervention is one day.

Secondary outcomes

  1. The change of BPI-SF

    Our secondary outcome will be the change of average pain severity in BPI-SF from baseline to 20 sessions at 8th weeks. BPI-SF is an instrument used to evaluate the severity of pain, including neuropathic pain and the interference on the patients' daily functioning. Items are scored from 0 to 10 (0= no pain; 10= pain as bad as you can imagine). Since not all the patients feel pain in their daily life, we selected the participants who have average pain severity more than 4 points at baseline assessment into the final analysis. The authorized translated traditional Chinese version will be purchased in this study.

    Time frame: It will be assessed before the first intervention in the first week, after the 12th intervention in the 4th week , after the 20th intervention in the 8th week, and the follow-up assessment in the end of the 12th week. Each intervention is one day.

  2. The quantitative sensation of touch detection

    The quantitative sensation of touch detection was used to test sensory levels and obtain objective data on the status of diminishing or returning sensibility. Touch detection was measured using von Frey monofilaments (Semmes-Weinstein Von Frey Aesthesiometer, Stoelting Co. 620 Wheat Lane, Wood Dale, IL, USA), with weights from 0.008 g to 300 g at 8 points. The measuring sites including the bases of the sole, tips of the big toe, palmar sides of hands, and the fingertips of the middle finger. The well-known up-down method applied to measure touch-detection thresholds. It will be assessed before the first intervention in the first week, after the 20th intervention in the 8th week, and the follow-up assessment in the end of the 12th week. Each intervention is one day. Each von-Frey test or questionnaire will be performed within seven days from each time point.

    Time frame: It will be assessed before the first intervention in the first week, after the 20th intervention in the 8th week, and the follow-up assessment in the end of the 12th week. Each intervention is one day.

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Study locations

1 of 1 sites recruiting
  • Taipei Veterans General Hospital
    Taipei, Taiwan
    Recruiting
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References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

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Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Apr 27, 2021, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
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Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT04739631
Lead sponsor
Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taiwan
Collaborators
China Medical University Hospital
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Feb 4, 2021
Start date
Jan 22, 2021
Primary completion
Jun 30, 2022 (estimated)
Completion
Jun 30, 2022 (estimated)
Last update
Apr 27, 2021

Study contacts

Fang-Pey Chen, Ph.D
Contact
fpchen@vghtpe.gov.tw
886-2-28757453

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
Yes
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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