Acupuncture and gloves: a new hope against chemo nerve pain?

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

Inclusion Criteria: 1. Age 18-70 years old and have signed an informed consent form; 2. Patients with histologically confirmed non-recurrent early or intermediate-stage breast cancer; 3. Patients scheduled to receive cyclical adjuvant or neoadjuvant chemotherapy based on taxane drugs (4-cycle or single-cycle regimen); 4. No prior exposure to breast cancer-related chemotherapy, immunotherapy, or endocrine therapy; 5. Cardiac echocardiography showing cardiac ejection fraction within normal range; 6. Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) physical status ≤1; 7. No psychiatric or cognitive impairments, capable of understanding and completing assessment scales; 8. No CIPN at baseline (NCI-CTCAE 5.0 and TNSc grading ≤0); 9. Good organ function meeting the following criteria: Hb ≥90g/L, WBC ≥3.5×10⁹/L, platelets ≥100×10⁹/L, neutrophils ≥1.5×10⁹/L, AST ≤3× upper limit of normal, ALT ≤3× upper limit of normal, bilirubin ≤1.5× upper limit of normal, serum creatinine ≤1.5× upper limit of normal; 10. Fertile women must agree to use effective contraception for 7 days before first dosing through 24 weeks post-treatment. Fertile women must have a negative serum pregnancy test within 7 days before first dosing. Exclusion Criteria: 1. Patients with active infections, skin lesions on hands/feet, or contraindications to chemotherapy, acupuncture, or compression therapy; 2. Patients with prior exposure to neurotoxic agents (e.g., taxanes, oxaliplatin, platinum-based drugs, vincristine) or platinum-containing chemotherapy regimens; 3. Patients who received acupuncture for other conditions within the past month; 4. Patients with conditions predisposing to peripheral neuropathy symptoms (e.g., alcoholism, uremia, diabetes, autoimmune disorders, rheumatoid arthritis, cervical spondylosis, severe mental illness, severe trauma); 5. Patients with Raynaud's syndrome, cold intolerance, peripheral arterial ischemia, or hand-foot syndrome; 6. Patients receiving medications that may mask CIPN symptoms (e.g., SSNRI, SSRI, tricyclic antidepressants, B-complex vitamins); 7. Patients with lymphedema in acupuncture stimulation areas; 8. Patients with phobia of electroacupuncture or stainless steel needle allergy; 9. Patients with severe non-malignant conditions that may compromise treatment adherence or pose risks; 10. Patients undergoing concurrent anti-tumor therapy or clinical trials; 11. Patients with dementia, cognitive impairment, or psychiatric conditions affecting informed consent comprehension; 12. Patients with known allergy history or contraindications to trial procedures; 13. Patients with uncontrolled cardiac symptoms or conditions, including: (1) NYHA class 2 or higher heart failure; (2) unstable angina; (3) myocardial infarction within the past year; (4) clinically significant supraventricular or ventricular arrhythmias requiring treatment; 14. Cardiac pacemaker implantation; 15. Known hereditary or acquired bleeding/thrombosis predispositions (e.g., hemophilia, coagulation disorders, thrombocytopenia, hypersplenism, etc.).