Efficacy of Acupuncture on Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy (CIPN)-TMANH

Efficacy of Acupuncture on Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy (CIPN): A Phase III, Randomized, Sham-controlled Clinical Trial

This three-armed, multicenter, randomized, parallel, sham-controlled clinical trial will conduct in three centers in Taiwan. We will randomly assign 234 eligible patients into three groups, an acupuncture group (n=90), a sham-controlled group (n=90), and a waitlist-controlled group (n=54). 46 cases are expected to be received at Tainan Municipal Annan Hospital. Each subject maintain the regular treatments of cancer except the chemotherapeutic agents designed in our design. The acupuncture group and the sham-controlled group will receive three therapeutic sessions each week for four weeks, and another two sessions each week for four weeks (a total of 20 sessions at eight weeks). Each group will be followed-up for four weeks, to evaluate the persistent efficacy of acupuncture. The sham-controlled group will be performed with minimal acupuncture (superficial needling) at non-acupoints. The primary outcome measurement will be the changes in the FACT-Ntx subscale from baseline to 20th acupuncture sessions. The secondary outcome will be the changes in BPI-SF average pain score from baseline to 20th acupuncture sessions. The third outcome will be the changes of target forces by von-Frey filament test at each point in hands and feet from baseline to 20th acupuncture treatments. from baseline to 20th sessions. FACT-Ntx scale and BPI-SF average pain score will be measured at four time-points, including baseline, the end of the 12th treatments, the end of the 20th treatments, and the end of the study at the 12th week. The von-Frey filament test will be measured at three-time points, including baseline, the end of the 20th treatments, and the end of the study at the 12th week.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Acupuncture; Chemotherapy-induced Peripheral Neuropathy (CIPN)
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Acupuncture; Other: Minimal acupuncture

Detailed Description

Background: Chemotherapy may lead to peripheral neuropathy up to 40% in cancer survivors, especially in some types of patients with cancer. The effect of acupuncture, an ancient Chinese medicine technique, was recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO) in the treatment of several diseases. The postulated mechanisms associated with acupuncture in analgesia or neurogenesis are still under investigation. Considering a moderate recommendation for duloxetine in the treatment of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) based on based on neuropathic pain, and a few treatment options with evidence for CIPN, acupuncture might be another option. Nowadays, only small scale pilot studies provided initial proof of acupuncture in CIPN, particularly in decreasing neuropathic pain and improving neurotoxicity, the study aims to determine the beneficial effects of acupuncture on CIPN with a large-scale, multicenter, randomized sham-controlled clinical trial. Furthermore, the aim of the study will provide evidence for the clinical therapeutic guideline of CIPN in the future. Methods: This three-armed, multicenter, randomized, parallel, sham-controlled clinical trial will conduct in three centers in Taiwan. We will randomly assign 234 eligible patients into three groups, an acupuncture group (n=90), a sham-controlled group (n=90), and a waitlist-controlled group (n=54). Each subject maintain the regular treatments of cancer except the chemotherapeutic agents designed in our design. The acupuncture group and the sham-controlled group will receive three therapeutic sessions each week for four weeks, and another two sessions each week for four weeks (a total of 20 sessions at eight weeks). Each group will be followed-up for four weeks , to evaluate the persistent efficacy of acupuncture. The sham-controlled group will be performed with minimal acupuncture (superficial needling) at non-acupoints. The primary outcome measurement will be the changes in the FACT-Ntx subscale from baseline to 20th acupuncture sessions. The secondary outcome will be the changes in BPI-SF average pain score from baseline to 20th acupuncture sessions. The third outcome will be the changes of target forces by von-Frey filament test at each point in hands and feet from baseline to 20th acupuncture treatments. from baseline to 20th sessions. FACT-Ntx scale and BPI-SF average pain score will be measured at four time-points, including baseline, the end of the 12th treatments, the end of the 20th treatments, and the end of the study at the 12th week. The von-Frey filament test will be measured at three-time points, including baseline, the end of the 20th treatments, and the end of the study at the 12th week.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 28
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Taiwan
  • Taiwan
    • Tainan, Taiwan, Taiwan, 709
      • An Nan Hospital, China Medical University

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

The study will enroll patients with a symptom of peripheral neuropathy, including paresthesia, numbness, glove-and-stocking sensory loss distribution or pain in four limbs, and meet the following inclusion criteria:

Inclusion Criteria:

• 1. All adult cancer patients (Age≧20-year-old) who received chemotherapy regimens, including adjuvant and neoadjuvant therapy
• 2. Stage I-III cancer patients
• 3. Completed chemotherapy regimens more than 3 months, including Taxanes (paclitaxel or docetaxel), platinum (cisplatin, oxaliplatin, carboplatin)
• 4. Baseline von Frey Monofilament test (Target force at hand) ≧ 0.07gms
• 5. Baseline von Frey Monofilament test (Target force at foot) ≧ 0.4gms
• 6. Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status ≦3
• 7. Grading of peripheral sensory neuropathy in National Cancer Institute- common terminology criteria for adverse events,v5.0 (NCI-CTCAE5) ≧1
• 8. Patients were restricted acupuncture treatment for one month before recruitment
• 9. Written patient informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

• 1. Uncontrolled Diabetic Mellitus, HbA1c≧7% is inappropriate[19].
• 2. Diabetic neuropathy diagnosed before receiving chemotherapy
• 3. Neuropathy from any type of nerve compression (e.g., carpal/tarsal tunnel syndrome, radiculopathy, spinal stenosis, brachial plexopathy)
• 4. Concomitant with duloxetine, or another analgesia, including Pregabalin, Venlafaxine, Minocycline, Topical gel, Oxycodone, Naloxone, Cannabinoids, and Angiotensin II type 2 receptor antagonist
• 5. Severe hemorrhagic coagulopathy or bleeding tendency
• 6. Unstable cardiovascular disease
• 7. Severe skin lesions around the treatment sites The researchers will exclude any participants considered to be inappropriate for the study.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Double

Number of Arms

3

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: acupuncture group; The needle set for the sham acupuncture group and the real acupuncture group will use the CASOON Acupuncture Needle (Wuxi Jiajian Medical Instrument Company, limited), which needle size is 0.3mm×30mm. The needle placed for the real acupuncture group will be the same needle size as 0.3mm×30mm. The depth of needling varied based on the patient's body sizes. After insertion, the needles were manually manipulated to obtain the De Qi sensation, which was defined as the acupuncturist feeling a tugging or grasping sensation from the needle manipulation and the patient feeling soreness, fullness, heaviness, or local distension at local needling sites.	Other: Acupuncture; Use disposable sterile steel needles to insert to the acupuncture point
Placebo Comparator: sham-controlled group; The sham acupuncture group will be performed by superficial needling with less than 4mm depth. The needling location is about 0.5 cm away from the acupoints. Both the real acupuncture group and the sham acupuncture group received the same treatment protocol.	Other: Minimal acupuncture; The sham-controlled group will be performed with minimal acupuncture (superficial needling) at non-acupoints.
No Intervention: waitlist-controlled group; As an waitlist control group, no acupuncture will be performed.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
the change of FACT-Neurotoxicity subscale(NtxS) from baseline to 20 sessions at 8th weeks	The neurotoxicity subscale from the FACT/GOG-NTX-13(version 4) contains 13 items assessing numbness, tingling, and discomfort in the hands or feet, difficulty hearing, tinnitus, joint pain or muscle cramps, weakness, or trouble walking, buttoning buttons, or feeling small shapes when placed in the hand. Items are scored from 0-4 (0 = not at all; 4 = very much) and summed (total score range = 0-52)Since no published data are defining a cut-point for determining a clinically important change in the FACT/GOG Ntx score, we defined a 4 point change as a clinically meaningful improvement in patient-reported CIPN-related neurotoxicity outcome	at baseline, at the end of 12th sessions(week 4), at the end of 20th sessions(week 8), at the week 12

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
the change of average pain severity in BPI-SF from baseline to 20 sessions at 8th weeks	BPI-SF is an instrument used to evaluate the severity of pain, including neuropathic pain and the interference on the patients' daily functioning. Items are scored from 0 to 10 (0= no pain; 10= pain as bad as you can imagine). Since not all the patients feel pain in their daily life, we selected the participants who have average pain severity more than 4 points at baseline assessment into the final analysis.	at baseline, at the end of 12th sessions(week 4), at the end of 20th sessions(week 8), at the week 12
The quantitative sensation of touch detection	The quantitative sensation of touch detection was used to test sensory levels and obtain objective data on the status of diminishing or returning sensibility.Touch detection was measured using von Frey monofilaments (Semmes-Weinstein Von Frey Aesthesiometer, Stoelting Co. 620 Wheat Lane, Wood Dale, IL, USA), with weights from 0.008 g to 300 g at 8 points. The measuring sites including the bases of the sole, tips of the big toe, palmar sides of hands, and the fingertips of the middle finger. The well-known up-down method applied to measure touch-detection thresholds.	at baseline, at the end of 20th sessions (week 8), at the week 12

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Taiwan Municipal An-Nan Hospital-China Medical University
• Collaborators: China Medical University Hospital; Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taiwan
• Investigators: Study Director: Yi-Hung Chen, Ph.D., China Medical University, Taiwan

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Lu W, Giobbie-Hurder A, Freedman RA, Shin IH, Lin NU, Partridge AH, Rosenthal DS, Ligibel JA. Acupuncture for Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy in Breast Cancer Survivors: A Randomized Controlled Pilot Trial. Oncologist. 2020 Apr;25(4):310-318. doi: 10.1634/theoncologist.2019-0489. Epub 2019 Oct 14.
• Molassiotis A, Suen LKP, Cheng HL, Mok TSK, Lee SCY, Wang CH, Lee P, Leung H, Chan V, Lau TKH, Yeo W. A Randomized Assessor-Blinded Wait-List-Controlled Trial to Assess the Effectiveness of Acupuncture in the Management of Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy. Integr Cancer Ther. 2019 Jan-Dec;18:1534735419836501. doi: 10.1177/1534735419836501.
• D'Alessandro EG, Nebuloni Nagy DR, de Brito CMM, Almeida EPM, Battistella LR, Cecatto RB. Acupuncture for chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy: a randomised controlled pilot study. BMJ Support Palliat Care. 2022 Mar;12(1):64-72. doi: 10.1136/bmjspcare-2018-001542. Epub 2019 Jun 29.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): March 1, 2021
• Primary Completion (Actual): February 10, 2025
• Study Completion (Actual): June 30, 2025

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: July 3, 2026
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 3, 2026
• First Posted (Actual): July 9, 2026

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): July 9, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 3, 2026
• Last Verified: July 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: acupuncture; taxane; neuropathic pain; chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy; platinum; von-Frey monofilament test
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Pain; Neurologic Manifestations; Nervous System Diseases; Neuromuscular Diseases; Peripheral Nervous System Diseases; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms; Signs and Symptoms; Neuralgia; Therapeutics; Complementary Therapies; Acupuncture Therapy
• Other Study ID Numbers: TMANH109-REC016

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