Acupuncture may ease Chemo's nerve pain, new study finds
NCT ID NCT05528263
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026
Summary
This study tested whether acupuncture can help prevent or reduce nerve pain, numbness, and tingling caused by chemotherapy in people with early-stage breast cancer. 89 participants were split into two groups: one received acupuncture, the other watched nature videos and did relaxation exercises. The goal was to see if acupuncture could lessen these side effects and improve quality of life during taxane-based chemotherapy.
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Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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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
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89 people
The number who actually took part.
- Started
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Sep 2022
- Finished
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May 2025
- Lead sponsor
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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
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18 years and older
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Not accepted
This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.
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Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: * History of histologically proven stage I-III breast cancer, without evidence of distant metastasis * Scheduled to receive adjuvant or neoadjuvant taxane-based chemotherapy (with or without HER-2 directed therapy or with or without immunotherapy). Patient must enroll before the second infusion of a taxane. * Age ≥ 18 years * Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status of 0 or 1 * Signed informed consent Exclusion Criteria: * Previous receipt of CIPN-inducing chemotherapy agents (1 prior dose of a taxane is allowed). * Unstable cardiac disease or myocardial infarction within 6 months prior to study entry * Wearing a pacemaker or implantable cardioverter-defibrillator * Uncontrolled seizure disorder * History of pre-existing peripheral neuropathy * Use of acupuncture within the 3 months prior to study enrollment * Self-report of any CIPN symptoms via staff-administered PRO-CTCAE CIPN, defined as either: * Report of "mild", "moderate", "severe", "very severe" on the Severity Item on PRO-CTCAE CIPN assessment * Report of "a little bit", "somewhat", "quite a bit", "very much" on the Interfere Item on PRO-CTCAE CIPN assessment
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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
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Dana Farber Cancer Institute
Boston, Massachusetts, 02215, United States
More trials for these conditions
Other studies related to the condition(s) this trial covers.
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