Analysis of Multimodal Psychosomatic Comorbidity Burden in Breast Cancer and Benefit Evaluation of Acupuncture Collaborative Management Regimen

August 12, 2026 updated by: Li Li, First Teaching Hospital of Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine

A Pragmatic Randomized Controlled Trial on Acupuncture Intervention to Alleviate Multifaceted Psychosomatic Comorbidities Among Breast Cancer Patients Based on Shared Decision-Making Model

This study adopts a multicenter, pragmatic, umbrella randomized controlled trial design integrated with the shared decision-making (SDM) model. Patients are stratified into four subgroups based on their core psychosomatic symptom phenotypes (single symptom vs. multiple comorbid symptoms). Participants are randomly assigned to the intervention group or control group at a 2:1 allocation ratio. For the intervention group, personalized interventions (including manual acupuncture, auricular point pressing, and combined manual acupuncture plus auricular point pressing) are selected via shared decision-making between clinicians and patients, while the control group receives routine nursing care. The study evaluates the improvement efficacy of single symptoms and the synergistic relief effect of multiple co-occurring symptoms across all psychosomatic phenotype subgroups under the shared decision-making framework. This design addresses the limitation of conventional randomized controlled trials that only focus on individual symptoms, and better fits real-world clinical scenarios characterized by multimorbid coexistence.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Not yet recruiting

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.

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 (Estimated)

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.
216

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.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

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

Study Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.

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

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Female patients aged 18 to 70 years old;
  • Patients with pathologically or cytologically confirmed breast cancer;
  • Meeting at least one diagnostic criterion for psychosomatic symptoms:Anxiety or depressive state: subscale score of anxiety or depression on the HADS ≥ 8;Sleep disturbance: total score of the PSQI ≥ 8;Cancer-related fatigue: total score of the BFI ≥ 4;
  • Expected survival time ≥ 1 year;
  • Clear consciousness, basic communication ability, and capacity to complete scale assessments cooperatively;
  • Voluntary written informed consent signed by the patient or legal representative.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Patients with severe mental disorders (such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder) or lacking civil capacity;
  • Ineligibility for auricular point pressing intervention: local auricular skin breakage, infection, or allergic constitution (allergy to vaccaria seeds or adhesive plasters);
  • Patients receiving other acupuncture or acupoint pressing interventions, or those unable to discontinue such treatments during the trial period;
  • Patients unsuitable for manual acupuncture, including those with bleeding tendency (e.g., coagulation disorders, purpura) or local skin lesions at acupoint sites;
  • Complicated with severe heart, liver, renal or other organ failure, or cachexia;
  • Pregnant or lactating women.

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: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

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 group
Acupuncture、Auricular point pressing
Other: Acupuncture
In the intervention group, personalized interventions (manual acupuncture, auricular point pressing, and combined manual acupuncture plus auricular point pressing) were selected through shared decision-making between physicians and patients.
Other Names:
  • Auricular point pressing
No Intervention: routine nursing control group

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
Measure Description
Time Frame
Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Breast, FACT-B
Time Frame: 8 weeks
Instruments for assessing Quality of Life (QoL) among breast cancer patients；Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Breast (FACT-B Version 4.0) Uniform response options: 0 = Not at all, 1 = A little bit, 2 = Somewhat, 3 = Quite a bit, 4 = Very much Unified scoring rule for all subscales and total scores: Higher scores indicate better quality of life among breast cancer patients; lower scores reflect more severe physical, emotional, social and breast-specific distress.
8 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Hospital anxiety and depression scale,HADS
Time Frame: 8 weeks

Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) Full Scoring Standard Specifications Subscale 1: Anxiety subscale (HADS-A) Number of items: 7 Minimum score: 0 Maximum score: 21 Interpretation: Higher scores mean more severe anxiety symptoms. Subscale 2: Depression subscale (HADS-D) Number of items: 7 Minimum score: 0 Maximum score: 21 Interpretation: Higher scores mean more severe depressive symptoms. HADS total score Composition: HADS-A score + HADS-D score Minimum score: 0 Maximum score: 42 Interpretation: Higher total scores indicate more severe combined anxiety and depression symptoms.

Supplementary Response Option Rule (Standard HADS 4-point Likert) All items adopt 4-point scoring from 0 to 3; higher single item scores stand for worse emotional conditions.
8 weeks
Pittsburgh sleep quality index，PSQI
Time Frame: 8 weeks
Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) Full Scoring Standard Description PSQI component subscores (7 sleep dimensions) Each component score range: 0-3 PSQI global total score Full name: Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index Global Score Minimum score: 0 Maximum score: 21 Interpretation: Higher global scores represent worse overall sleep quality; lower scores indicate better sleep quality.
8 weeks
Brief Fatigue Inventory，BFI
Time Frame: 8 weeks

Brief Fatigue Inventory (BFI) Full Scoring Standard Description Single item scoring range for each fatigue item: 0-10 BFI Global Fatigue Severity Score Full name: Brief Fatigue Inventory Global Fatigue Severity Score Minimum score: 0 Maximum score: 10 Interpretation: Higher scores indicate more severe fatigue; lower scores represent milder fatigue status.

Supplement The total global score is the average of all 9 items of the BFI. Each item uses a 0-10 numerical rating scale, where 0 = no fatigue at all and 10 = worst fatigue imaginable.
8 weeks
Brief Pain Inventory，BPI
Time Frame: 8 weeks
Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) Full Scoring Standard Description Single item scoring range: Each pain-related item is scored on a 0-10 numeric rating scale (0 = no pain, 10 = worst pain imaginable) BPI Pain Severity Score Full name: Brief Pain Inventory Pain Severity Score Composition: Average score of 4 pain severity items (worst pain, least pain, average pain, pain right now) Minimum score: 0 Maximum score: 10 Interpretation: Higher scores mean greater pain severity BPI Pain Interference Score Full name: Brief Pain Inventory Pain Interference Score Composition: Average score of 7 pain interference items (interference with general activity, mood, walking ability, normal work, relations with others, sleep, enjoyment of life) Minimum score: 0 Maximum score: 10 Interpretation: Higher scores indicate more severe interference of pain on daily life
8 weeks

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.
First Teaching Hospital of Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine

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.
Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital
Tianjin Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine Affiliated Hospital

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 (Estimated)

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.
August 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

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.
January 31, 2028

Study Completion (Estimated)

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.
March 31, 2028

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).
July 3, 2026

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.
August 12, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

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.
August 13, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

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.
August 13, 2026

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.
August 12, 2026

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.
August 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

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.
  • 2026006

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

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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