Investigation of Immune Modulation by Modern Acupuncture in Gastroenterologic Cancers

December 29, 2020 updated by: Ming-Shun Wu, Taipei Medical University WanFang Hospital
According to the total population of cancer patients, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and colorectal cancer (CRC), two of gastroenterological cancers are involved in the most acquired five cancers. Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a leading cause of tumor-related morbidity and mortality worldwide, and HCC is one of the top ten cancers in China. Currently, the intervention for gastrointestinal cancers mainly focuses on surgical removal, but patients still have a high risk of recurrence. Thus, the prevention of cancer recurrence is the most crucial topic for the intervention. The pathophysiology of gastroenterological cancers is multifactorial and not yet completely understood. However, immunosuppression is a major contributing factor in tumor cells play a central part in disease progression. It determines the prognosis of patients.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

According to the total population of cancer patients, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and colorectal cancer (CRC), two of gastroenterological cancers are involved in the most acquired five cancers. Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a leading cause of tumor-related morbidity and mortality worldwide, and HCC is one of the top ten cancers in China. Currently, the intervention for gastrointestinal cancers mainly focuses on surgical removal, but patients still have a high risk of recurrence. Thus, the prevention of cancer recurrence is the most crucial topic for the intervention. The pathophysiology of gastroenterological cancers is multifactorial and not yet completely understood. However, immunosuppression is a major contributing factor in tumor cells play a central part in disease progression. It determines the prognosis of patients.

The immune checkpoint or complementary therapy in the course of cancer treatment has been reported as effective methods for patients. In recent years, more integrated treatment studies have found that acupuncture can improve the discomfort and pain caused by chemotherapy. In addition, the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis has shown that acupuncture can effectively regulate the immunity of patients. In this study, investigators are considering to apply modern acupuncture as the immune modulation in gastroenterological cancers. Modern acupuncture is to use the scalp and ear acupuncture methods to identify diseases and checkpoints and apply them to regulate the immune function of patients with gastroenterological cancers. The infiltration of a specific subtype of T-cell and the expression of PD-L1 in tumors may be applied as indicators of cancer prognosis. These CD8 T cells (also called Tex cells) often fail to eradicate tumors and can become dysfunctional or exhausted. The magnitude of the reinvigoration of circulating Tex cells determined in relation to pretreatment tumor burden correlated with clinical response. By monitoring Tex cells, investigators will evaluate the feasibility of acupuncture as a complementary therapy to regulate the immune functions of patients with gastroenterological cancers

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

5

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

  • Taiwan
      • Taipei, Taiwan, 116
        • WanFangH

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

20 years to 75 years (ADULT, OLDER_ADULT)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Clinical diagnosis of gastrointestinal cancer
  • Must have the will to receive acupuncture

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Clinical diagnosis of Late cancer
  • History of having bad reflect in acupuncture
  • Coagulopathy

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: PREVENTION
  • Allocation: NA
  • Interventional Model: SINGLE_GROUP
  • Masking: NONE

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
EXPERIMENTAL: the scalp and ear acupuncture
CHIAN HUEI ACUPUNCTURE NEEDLE
Other: Modern acupuncture
use the scalp and ear acupuncture methods to identify diseases and checkpoints and apply them to regulate the immune function of patients with gastroenterological cancers.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
The number of CD8+ T
Time Frame: 4 weeks

Using PBMC to analyze the number of CD8+ T that is NK, NKT, DC, and Monocyte.

At the start of acupuncture adjuvant therapy (week 0, week 2, and week 4) blood was collected.

Blood draw - 15 ml/each

Week0- baseline, the original data of CD8+T before receiving acupuncture

Week2- the data of CD8+T after receiving acupuncture

Week4- the data of CD8+T after two weeks that the patients did not receive acupuncture

Compare with week0 and week2 data, if week2 data is higher than week0, it means the acupuncture has effective to add the number of CD8+ T.

Compare with week 2 and week 4 data results and confirm the data change of the number of CD8+ T after stopping the acupuncture. If the data do not decline, it means the effect of acupuncture remains to exist. If the data declines, it means the effect of acupuncture weakens.
4 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Taipei Medical University WanFang 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 (ACTUAL)

August 31, 2020

Primary Completion (ACTUAL)

November 30, 2020

Study Completion (ACTUAL)

November 30, 2020

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

December 16, 2020

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

December 29, 2020

First Posted (ACTUAL)

December 31, 2020

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (ACTUAL)

December 31, 2020

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

December 29, 2020

Last Verified

December 1, 2020

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • N202005058

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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