Acupuncture for Peripheral Neuropathy

November 18, 2015 updated by: Singapore General Hospital

A Study of Acupuncture for Bortezomib or Thalidomide -Induced Peripheral Neuropathy in Patients With Multiple Myeloma or Lymphoma

A significant proportion (up to 60%) of myeloma patients treated with Bortezomib or thalidomide or both develop significant peripheral neuropathy (PN). Standard of care for this complication include drugs like gabapentin or pregabalin, which relieve symptoms only partially. PN of grade II or above mandates reduction in dose or frequency of Bortezomib or thalidomide, which may compromise treatment outcome. This clinical study explores whether, by intervening early in its course using acupuncture, progression of PN can be reversed, stabilized or retarded thereby allowing continuation of treatment on schedule.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Terminated

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

  1. The acupuncture treatment will start after patients have received at least 3 weeks of Gabapentin or Pregabalin at adequate dose without improvement in PN
  2. Two sessions of acupuncture per week, each of 30minutes duration, will be administered for a total of 10 sessions over 5 weeks. The needling will be done by the designated acupuncturist for all patients, delivered with electrical stimulation at a defined frequency.
  3. A fixed set of acupoints will be applied which include both local and distant points, based on both symptoms of PN and classification of TCM syndrome. Some degree of flexibility with addition or reduction of acupoints is allowed based on clinical indication. The acupoints needled each session will be recorded.
  4. Assessment of efficacy 4.1 Objective response : A complete neurological examination will be done at commencement of acupuncture and at end of acupuncture.

In addition, a full nerve conduction test will be done at beginning of acupuncture and at the end of 10 sessions of acupuncture.

4.2 Subjective assessment A quality of life questionnaire (FACT/GOG-NTX v4) will be filled in by patients at enrolment, commencement, at the 6th session and at the end of 10 sessions of acupuncture.

4.3 Scoring With both objective and subjective assessment, a Total Neuropathy Score can be calculated at each time point as a quantitative measurement of the severity of PN

5. Statistical considerations The statistical analysis specifies that a lower limit of the two-sided 90 percent confidence interval for the overall positive response that exceeded 10 percent would be considered to be evidence of significant efficacy of acupuncture in retarding Bortezomib or thalidomide induced PN. Allowing a confidence interval width of 30%, the sample size needed will be 34 patients. To allow for a 10% drop-out, we plan to recruit a total of 40 patients

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
8

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Phase 2

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Singapore
      • Singapore, Singapore, 169608
        • Singapore General Hospital

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

21 years to 85 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. Age > 21 years and have a diagnosis of a plasma cell dyscrasia or lymphoma.
  2. Patients must have neuropathy greater or equal to 2 according to CTCAE v 3.0 scale in spite of adequate duration (at least 3 weeks) of previous treatment with Gabapentin or Pregabalin or are unable to tolerate these drugs. Patients receiving any of these drugs must remain on the same medications throughout the study period; however, minor adjustments in dosage are allowed.

3. The patient's current or previous treatment must include bortezomib or thalidomide

4. ECOG Performance Status of 0, 1, or 2

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Local infection at or near the acupuncture site. (Although acupuncture is a minimally invasive procedure, patients will be excluded if there is an indication of active infection.)
  2. Thrombocytopenia (platelet counts < 50x 109/L) on the day of acupuncture session
  3. Deformities that could interfere with accurate acupuncture point location or out of energy pathway as defined by traditional acupuncture theory.
  4. Concurrent use of anticoagulation agents.
  5. Known coagulopathy and taking heparin (including low molecular weight heparin) or warfarin at any dose. Patients on aspirin or non-steroidal anti-inflammatories are allowed to participate.
  6. Persistent absolute neutrophil counts of < 1 x 109/L
  7. Active CNS disease.
  8. Patients having a cardiac pacemaker.
  9. Currently pregnant or lactating females.
  10. Severe diabetic neuropathy or neuropathy related to HIV.
  11. Previous acupuncture treatment for any indication within 30 days of enrollment.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: acupuncture treatment
Procedure: acupuncture
Ten sessions of acupuncture at 2x per week over 5 weeks will be given to patients. The acupuncture points include a standard set of obligatory points and additional points based on symptoms.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Improvement in peripheral neuropathy
Time Frame: within the 5 weeks of acupuncture treatment
within the 5 weeks of acupuncture treatment

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Singapore General Hospital

Collaborators

Collaborators

An organization other than the sponsor that provides support for a clinical study. This support may include activities related to funding, design, implementation, data analysis, or reporting.
National Neuroscience Institute

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
June 1, 2012

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
June 1, 2014

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
June 1, 2014

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
June 29, 2012

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
July 3, 2012

First Posted (Estimate)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
July 4, 2012

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
November 20, 2015

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
November 18, 2015

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
November 1, 2015

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • Acupuncture 001

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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