Ancient heat therapy tested for Life-Threatening transplant complication
NCT ID NCT07572669
First seen Jun 24, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026 · Updated 1 time
Summary
This study tests whether moxibustion, a traditional Chinese medicine technique that involves burning dried mugwort near the skin, can help people with a severe complication of stem cell transplants called graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) that does not respond to steroids. The trial will enroll 42 patients who have gut symptoms like belly pain and diarrhea. All will receive standard second-line drugs, and some will also get moxibustion once or twice daily for 28 days. The main goal is to see if the combination improves response rates by day 28.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only — not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- moxibustion (a traditional Chinese medicine procedure involving burning dried mugwort near the skin at specific acupoints)
- What this could lead to
- If it works, this could offer a safe, non-drug add-on therapy to help control severe gut symptoms in patients who don't respond to steroids after a stem cell transplant.
- What could go wrong
- This is a small, early-phase (Phase 2) trial with only 42 participants, so results may not apply broadly. Moxibustion is an unproven complementary therapy, and any benefit over standard care alone is uncertain.
This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.
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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
-
Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology
RECRUITINGWuhan, Hubei, 430022, China
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