The Effect of Acupuncture on Nerve Pain Caused by Taxane (Chemotherapy) Treatment

Overview

Some people experience a side effect while they are receiving taxane called taxane-induced peripheral neuropathy (TIPN). TIPN is pain in the arms and legs due to nerve damage caused by cancer treatment and may interfere with quality of life. The purpose of this study is to learn if acupuncture can prevent TIPN from getting worse. Acupuncture is a medical technique that involves insertion of very thin needles into specific areas on the body. We will compare real acupuncture (RA) to placebo (sham) acupuncture (SA). SA is done like RA, but will use different needles and target different sites or places on the body than RA. We are comparing RA to SA to learn whether RA can prevent TIPN from getting worse while receiving taxane.

The study will include two phases. The first phase is the screening phase, in which patients with early stage breast cancer undergoing taxane therapy will consent and receive TIPN screening each week till they develop grade 1 or higher by CTCAE criteria. The patients with TIPN grade 1 or higher will then be consented to the intervention phase, in which patients will be randomized to receive either weekly real or sham acupuncture treatment using a standardized, semi-fixed protocol developed in our preliminary studies to improve TIPN pain. The participant may also participate in Part 2 of the study if they begin to experience TIPN but do not participate in Part 1.

Conditions