Acupuncture in Treating Mucositis-Related Pain Caused by Chemotherapy in Patients Undergoing Stem Cell Transplantation

April 29, 2015 updated by: National Cancer Institute (NCI)

A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled, Blinded Study Of Acupuncture Therapy In Mucositis-Related Pain In Patients Undergoing Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation

RATIONALE: Acupuncture may be effective in relieving mucositis-related pain caused by chemotherapy in patients undergoing stem cell transplantation.

PURPOSE: Randomized clinical trial to study the effectiveness of acupuncture in treating mucositis-related pain caused by high-dose chemotherapy in patients who are undergoing stem cell transplantation.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

OBJECTIVES:

  • Compare the efficacy of acupuncture vs placebo acupuncture in alleviating mucositis-related pain secondary to high-dose chemotherapy, as assessed by total cumulative dose of opioids used and subjective pain scores, in patients undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.
  • Compare the overall number of patients requiring opioid therapy in these 2 intervention groups.
  • Compare the nausea and vomiting scores of patients in these 2 intervention groups.
  • Compare the sedation score of patients in these 2 intervention groups.
  • Compare the use of other psychotropic medications (e.g., anxiolytics or hypnotics) in patients in these 2 intervention groups.
  • Compare the need for total parenteral nutrition (TPN) and the number of days on TPN experienced by patients in these 2 intervention groups.
  • Compare pruritus and the need for symptomatic treatment in patients in these 2 intervention groups.

OUTLINE: This is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Patients are stratified according to 9-phenylthiocarbamide/6-n-propylthiouracil (PROP) tasting ability (super-tasters vs non-super-tasters). Patients are randomized to 1 of 2 treatment arms.

  • Arm I: Beginning immediately after the development of mucositis pain, patients undergo acupuncture over 30 minutes once daily. Patients also receive standard pain management. Treatment continues until pain is completely resolved in the absence of unacceptable toxicity.
  • Arm II: Patients undergo placebo acupuncture and receive standard pain management as in arm I.

PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A maximum of 45 patients will be accrued for this study within 3 years.

Study Type

Interventional

Phase

  • 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 Locations

  • United States
    • Maryland
      • Bethesda, Maryland, United States, 20892-1182
        • Warren Grant Magnuson Clinical Center - NCI Clinical Studies Support

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

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

  • Must be undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) through one of the following means:

    • Concurrent enrollment on a HSCT protocol with the Experimental Transplantation & Immunology Branch (ETIB) at the NCI Center for Clinical Research*
    • Receiving HSCT as a compassionate exemption following the clinical guidelines of an ETIB protocol*
  • Directly observed oral or pharyngeal mucositis and/or suspected esophageal mucositis after high-dose chemotherapy
  • No pain unrelated to mucositis requiring use of potent analgesics prior to initiation of high-dose chemotherapy NOTE: *Protocol must be known to generate more than 50% incidence of high-dose chemotherapy-induced mucositis

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

Age

  • 18 and over

Performance status

  • Not specified

Life expectancy

  • Not specified

Hematopoietic

  • No history of bleeding disorders

Hepatic

  • PT and PTT normal

Renal

  • Not specified

Other

  • No history or evidence of drug addiction or drug-seeking behavior
  • No skin infection at the sites of acupuncture points

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

Biologic therapy

  • See Disease Characteristics

Chemotherapy

  • See Disease Characteristics

Endocrine therapy

  • Not specified

Radiotherapy

  • Not specified

Surgery

  • Not specified

Other

  • No concurrent anticoagulant therapy

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: Supportive Care
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Masking: Double

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

National Cancer Institute (NCI)

Investigators

  • Study Chair: Claude Sportes, MD, National Cancer Institute (NCI)

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

March 1, 2003

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

May 6, 2003

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 6, 2003

First Posted (Estimate)

May 7, 2003

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

April 30, 2015

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 29, 2015

Last Verified

April 1, 2004

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • CDR0000299048
  • NCI-03-C-0125

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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