An interventional study of Real Acupuncture and Sham Acupuncture in Accupuncture, Prostate Cancer and Hormone Therapy, sponsored by University of Kentucky. Recruiting at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 99 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-08-18.
Sponsored by University of Kentucky · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment
This study is evaluating whether acupuncture may help reduce hot flashes in men receiving hormone therapy for prostate cancer. Hot flashes are a common side effect of androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) and may negatively affect sleep, mood, concentration, daily activities, and overall quality of life.
Participants enrolled in this study will receive acupuncture treatment over a defined treatment period. The study will assess changes in hot flash frequency, severity, and quality of life using patient questionnaires and symptom diaries. Participants will complete a daily hot flash diary during selected 7-day assessment periods and quality-of-life questionnaires during study visits.
The primary goal of this study is to determine whether acupuncture may improve hot flash symptoms and related quality of life in men undergoing treatment for prostate cancer.
Hot flashes are a common and bothersome side effect experienced by men receiving androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) for prostate cancer. Symptoms may include sudden warmth, sweating, flushing, sleep disturbance, fatigue, mood changes, and reduced quality of life. Although medications such as antidepressants may help some patients, these treatments may also cause side effects and are not effective for all individuals. Acupuncture has been studied as a non-drug approach for management of hot flashes, but additional prospective studies are needed in men with prostate cancer receiving ADT.
This study is a prospective clinical study evaluating acupuncture for the management of ADT-related hot flashes in men with prostate cancer. Participants will undergo acupuncture treatment during the active treatment phase according to the study treatment schedule.
The study will evaluate changes in:
Hot flash frequency Hot flash severity Hot flash-related quality of life Interference of hot flashes with daily activities, sleep, mood, and social functioning
Patient-reported outcomes will be collected using standardized symptom assessments, including:
A Hot Flash Daily Diary The Hot Flash Related Daily Interference Scale (HFRDIS)
Participants will complete a daily hot flash diary during predefined 7-day assessment windows at baseline, during treatment, at the end of treatment, and during follow-up. The diary records the number and severity of hot flashes experienced over a 24-hour period. Participants will also complete questionnaires evaluating how hot flashes affect daily activities and quality of life.
The study includes follow-up assessments after completion of acupuncture treatment to evaluate the durability of symptom improvement over time.
The primary objective of the study is to assess whether acupuncture reduces hot flash burden in men receiving ADT for prostate cancer. Secondary objectives include evaluation of quality-of-life outcomes, symptom trajectory over time, treatment feasibility, and patient adherence to acupuncture-based symptom management.
7,046 studies on the registry are indexed under Prostatic Neoplasms; 1,580 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 40 is below the median of 60 across 5,348 interventional studies indexed under Prostatic Neoplasms.
Browse Prostatic Neoplasms studies →University of Kentucky is the lead sponsor of 68 studies on the registry; 7 are open to participants now.
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Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.
Exclusion Criteria:
Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Anti-inflammatory medicines such as prednisone, prednisolone and dexamethasone — not the anabolic steroids used for muscle.
Studies differ in what they allow: check which steroid medicines, routes (tablets, injections, creams, inhalers, eye drops) and doses this study accepts.
A scale of how much an illness limits everyday activity. For people being assessed to join a study, scores run from 0 (fully active) to 4; lower is more active.
Studies most often ask for 0–1 or 0–2. Your doctor gives the score; the WHO scale uses the same steps. The full scale also has 5, which records death.
Cancer deposits in the brain from a cancer that started elsewhere in the body (CNS metastases include the spinal cord).
Studies differ: some leave out any brain metastases, some accept ones treated and stable for some weeks. Check what this study allows.
Cancer that has spread to the leptomeninges, the thin layers covering the brain and spinal cord, and the fluid between them. It is not the same as brain metastases.
Criteria often treat it separately, and many studies leave it out even where treated brain metastases are allowed.
Malignancy means cancer. Criteria about another or earlier malignancy ask whether you have had a different cancer, usually within a set number of years.
Some are commonly allowed, such as treated skin cancers other than melanoma and early cancers removed completely — check the exceptions this study lists.
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Corticosteroids (steroids)
Anti-inflammatory medicines such as prednisone, prednisolone and dexamethasone — not the anabolic steroids used for muscle.
Studies differ in what they allow: check which steroid medicines, routes (tablets, injections, creams, inhalers, eye drops) and doses this study accepts.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
ECOG performance status
A scale of how much an illness limits everyday activity. For people being assessed to join a study, scores run from 0 (fully active) to 4; lower is more active.
Studies most often ask for 0–1 or 0–2. Your doctor gives the score; the WHO scale uses the same steps. The full scale also has 5, which records death.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Brain metastases
Cancer deposits in the brain from a cancer that started elsewhere in the body (CNS metastases include the spinal cord).
Studies differ: some leave out any brain metastases, some accept ones treated and stable for some weeks. Check what this study allows.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Leptomeningeal disease
Cancer that has spread to the leptomeninges, the thin layers covering the brain and spinal cord, and the fluid between them. It is not the same as brain metastases.
Criteria often treat it separately, and many studies leave it out even where treated brain metastases are allowed.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Cancer (malignancy)
Malignancy means cancer. Criteria about another or earlier malignancy ask whether you have had a different cancer, usually within a set number of years.
Some are commonly allowed, such as treated skin cancers other than melanoma and early cancers removed completely — check the exceptions this study lists.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Informed consent
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Participants receive acupuncture administered by a licensed and NCCAOM board certified acupuncturist at predefined acupuncture points twice weekly for 6 weeks followed by a 4 week washout period before participants crossover to the sham acupuncture arm.
Device: Real Acupuncture
Participants receive acupuncture administered by a licensed and NCCAOM board certified acupuncturist at non-acupuncture points twice weekly for 6 weeks followed by a 4 week washout period before participants crossover to the real acupuncture arm.
Device: Sham Acupuncture
The Real Acupuncture is administered at bilateral Large Intestine 4, Kidney 7, Kidney 3, and Gall Bladder 39 points using sterile single-use filiform needles. Needles are inserted approximately 20-25 mm with manipulation to achieve de qi sensation and retained for 30 minutes. Treatments are administered twice weekly for 6 weeks.
The Sham Acupuncture administered at non-acupuncture points bilaterally using sterile single-use filiform needles. Needles are inserted approximately 4-5 mm without manipulation. Needles are retained for 30 minutes. Treatments are administered twice weekly for 6 weeks.
Change in Hot Flash Score
Weekly hot flash score will be calculated from a 7-day hot flash diary. Daily hot flash score is calculated as the number of hot flashes per day multiplied by the maximum severity score for that day. Weekly hot flash score is calculated as the sum of daily hot flash scores over 7 days. The primary outcome is the change in weekly hot flash score from baseline to Week 6.
Time frame: Baseline and week 6
Change in Hot Flash Related Daily Interference Scale (HFRDIS) Score
Change in Hot Flash Related Daily Interference Scale (HFRDIS) total score from baseline. The HFRDIS is a validated 10-item patient-reported questionnaire assessing the impact of hot flashes on daily functioning and quality of life. Each item is scored from 0 to 10, with higher scores indicating greater interference from hot flashes.
Time frame: Baseline, Week 6, Week 16
Proportion of Participants Achieving ≥50% Reduction in Weekly Hot Flash Score
Proportion of participants achieving at least a 50% reduction in weekly hot flash score compared with baseline, based on 7-day hot flash diary assessments.
Time frame: Week 6 and Week 16
Change in Mean Daily Hot Flash Frequency
Change in the mean number of daily hot flashes recorded in the 7-day hot flash diary compared with baseline.
Time frame: Baseline, Week 6, Week 16
Plan to share: Undecided
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