Acupuncture vs. sham needles: a test for chemo nerve damage

NCT ID NCT04651907

What the study statuses mean

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Recruitment status, easiest to join first

Recruiting now
This trial is taking on new participants right now.
Not yet recruiting
Registered, but not yet taking participants.
By invitation only
Not open to general applications. Only people the study team invites can take part.
Paused
Paused for now. It may or may not start again.
Ongoing
Running, but no longer taking on new participants.
Completed This study
The trial has finished. Results may not be published yet.
Stopped early
Stopped early, before it reached the end. That can be for many reasons, including safety.
Cancelled
Cancelled before anyone took part.

Expanded access (not trials)

Expanded access
Not a trial. This treatment can be requested outside a study, case by case, for people who qualify.
Expanded access (paused)
Not a trial. The treatment can normally be requested outside a study, but is unavailable right now.
Expanded access (ended)
Not a trial. The treatment could once be requested outside a study, but no longer can.
Approved
The treatment has been approved, so it is available normally rather than through this programme.

When the status isn't known

Details not published
The full record has not been published yet, so there is little to show here.
Status unknown
This status has not been confirmed recently, so it may be out of date.

First seen Jul 24, 2026 · Last updated Sep 09, 2026 · Updated 4 times

Summary

This trial tests whether real acupuncture can reduce the numbness, tingling, and pain that chemotherapy often leaves behind. Cancer survivors with persistent nerve symptoms will receive either genuine acupuncture or a sham version with superficial needling at non-acupoints. The goal is to see if the real treatment leads to meaningful improvement in daily function and discomfort.

What this could mean

Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.

Active substance
acupuncture (real vs. sham minimal acupuncture)
What this could lead to
If effective, acupuncture could offer a drug-free option to relieve chemotherapy-induced nerve damage symptoms like numbness and pain.
What could go wrong
This is a relatively small trial, and the sham control may also produce some benefit, making it hard to prove a clear advantage. Results may not apply to all chemotherapy types.

This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.

Study facts

What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.

Phase

Not a phased trial

Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.

Participants

69 people

The number who actually took part.

Started

Feb 2021

Finished

Jun 2025

Lead sponsor

Other sponsor

The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.

Who can take part

This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.

Ages

20 years and older

Sex

Anyone

Healthy volunteers

Not accepted

This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.

Show the full entry requirements

Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.

Inclusion Criteria: 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: 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 than3 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: Participants with any of the following conditions will be excluded: 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.

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Conditions

The condition(s) this trial relates to.

As listed by the trial registrant

The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.

Contacts and locations

Locations

  • China Medical University Hospital

    Taichung, 404, Taiwan

  • Taipei Veterans General Hospital

    Taipei, 112201, Taiwan

  • Taiwan Municipal An-Nan Hospital-China Medical University

    Tainan, 709, Taiwan

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