Clinical trial · Interventional
Acupuncture for the Immune System in Radiation Cancer Patients
Does Radiation Therapy Adversely Affect the Immune System, and Can Acupuncture Ameliorate the Effect? A Pilot Study
- Source
- ClinicalTrials.gov
- Retrieved
- Sep 8, 2026
- Layer
- normalized (units and labels harmonized; values unchanged)
- Run
- ING-CLINICALTRIALS-20260908-000001
Why stopped (as posted): Study was not approved by research ethics board.
Summary
Brief summary (as posted)
Purpose/Goal: To investigate how long course radiation therapy (RT), both with or without chemotherapy, affects the immune system, and to determine if acupuncture can modify these effects in patients undergoing curative radiation therapy for gastrointestinal (GI) or genitourinary (GU) cancers. Clinical or Research Questions: 1. Does RT reduce immune biomarkers in treated subjects? 2. Which biomarkers are most affected by treatment? 3. Is acupuncture a feasible option to help ameliorate any biomarker effects? 4. Does RT affect subject symptoms? 5. Is acupuncture a feasible option to help ameliorate any symptom effects?
Conditions
Conditions (2)
Free-text conditions as registered, with the CancerIndex entity they were reconciled to and the match type.
| Condition (as posted) | Mapped entity | Match | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gastrointestinal Neoplasms | Digestive System Neoplasm | ALIAS | 0.90 |
| Urogenital Neoplasms | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
Interventions
Interventions (1)
| Intervention | Type | Mapped drug | Match |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medical Acupuncture | Procedure | — | UNRESOLVED |
Design
Arms and outcomes
Arms (2)
- type
- NO_INTERVENTION
- label
- Standard treatment
- description
- Patients receiving standard radiation therapy for gastrointestinal or urogenital cancers. All subjects will be asked to give 20 mL of blood and complete the Edmonton Symptom Assessment Form (ESAS) on 3 occasions: * before radiation * at 1st follow up 4-10 weeks after radiation completion * at second follow up 6 months after 1st follow up
- type
- EXPERIMENTAL
- label
- Acupuncture
- description
- Patients receiving standard radiation therapy for gastrointestinal or urogenital cancers with concurrent acupuncture once a week for 4 weeks. All subjects will be asked to give 20 mL of blood and complete the Edmonton Symptom Assessment Form (ESAS) on 3 occasions: * before radiation * at 1st follow up 4-10 weeks after radiation completion * at second follow up 6 months after 1st follow up
- interventionNames
- Procedure: Medical Acupuncture
Primary outcomes (1)
- measure
Eligibility
Eligibility (as posted)
- Sex
- All
Show eligibility criteria text
Inclusion Criteria: * patients who will receive ≥ 4 weeks of curative intent long course RT for a GI or GU malignancy * patients may or may not have received / be receiving adjuvant chemotherapy * anticipated survival of at least 12 months * able to visit the BCCA VIC for treatment and 2 follow up visits Exclusion Criteria: * scheduled to receive RT for a period of less than 4 weeks * expected survival period is less than 12 months * are on anticoagulants
References
Publications (0)
Data not yet available