Acupuncture For Pancreatic Cancer Pain

September 7, 2006 updated by: Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Acupuncture For Pancreatic Cancer Pain: A Randomized Phase III Study

Pain is a common problem in patients with pancreatic cancer. Some patients suffer from pain despite medication. We, the researchers at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, are conducting a Phase III study to determine the effects of acupuncture on pain in patients with pancreatic cancer. The purpose of a Phase III study is to determine whether or not a treatment is helpful. This study will include about 60 patients.

Acupuncture is the insertion of very fine needles into the skin to treat symptoms. In recent years, researchers have found evidence that acupuncture is useful in treating a variety of conditions, including headache, nausea, and pain.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

The main aim of this pancreatic cancer pain trial is to determine the effects of a single, practitioner-given acupuncture treatment followed by semi-permanent acupuncture studs. Our primary endpoint is subjective; therefore, a placebo control will be applied with patients blinded to treatment allocation.

In clinical practice, acupuncturists individualize treatment: two patients with a similar conventional diagnosis may receive different point prescriptions depending on the acupuncture differential diagnosis. Randomized trials of acupuncture can either prescribe a fixed treatment formula in terms of the number of sessions and points to be used, or allow practitioners to exercise clinical judgment in individualizing care. There has been considerable debate in the methodological literature about the merits of each approach. The use of a fixed treatment schedule increases the reproducibility of the findings but is said, by practitioners, to generally reduce treatment effectiveness. In this trial, we have developed an approach that allows practitioners to individualize treatments in a manner that allows exact replication, by specifying particular point locations to be used depending on the sites where a patient experiences pain. Point locations for this and for all of our acupuncture studies are determined by our licensed, credentialled acupuncturists.

Following accrual of the initial 10-15 patients, we will review treatment compliance, blinding and accrual. Adjustments will be made to deal with compliance issues, to facilitate placebo blinding, or deal with recruitment problems for the remainder of the study.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment

60

Phase

  • Phase 3

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
    • New York
      • New York, New York, United States, 10021
        • Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

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

1 year and older (Child, Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Diagnosis of pancreatic adenocarcinoma.
  • First baseline current pain score of 3 or above on a 0 - 10 numerical rating scale.
  • In the opinion of the treating physician or a medically qualified investigator, the patient's pain syndrome is the result of underlying cancer.
  • Patient OR caregiver must be willing and able to apply pressure to each point using small circular movements with the fingers twice per day.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Primary cause of pain is procedural (e.g. postoperative pain).
  • Acupuncture treatment in the past six weeks. Patients should not receive acupuncture during the one week period of the study.
  • Neutropenia defined as absolute neutrophil count (ANC) <1000/microliter.
  • Cardiac conditions constituting high or moderate risk of endocarditis as defined by the American Heart Association criteria.
  • Patient contraindicated for phlebotomy, as phlebotomy needles are much larger than acupuncture needles.

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

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
To determine whether acupuncture reduces pain in pancreatic cancer patients more effectively than placebo
To determine the duration of acupuncture effects

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Barrie R. Cassileth, Ph.D., Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

Helpful Links

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

September 1, 2003

Study Completion

September 1, 2005

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

August 25, 2005

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 26, 2005

First Posted (Estimate)

August 29, 2005

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

September 8, 2006

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 7, 2006

Last Verified

September 1, 2006

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 03-106

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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