Clinical trial · Interventional
Auricular Acupressure for Chemotherapy-Induced Nausea and Vomiting in Female Breast Cancer Patients
The Effects of Auricular Acupressure on Chemotherapy-Induced Nausea and Vomiting in Female Breast Cancer Patients: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial
- Source
- ClinicalTrials.gov
- Retrieved
- Sep 8, 2026
- Layer
- normalized (units and labels harmonized; values unchanged)
- Run
- ING-CLINICALTRIALS-20260908-000001
Summary
Brief summary (as posted)
To evaluate the feasibility of a three-parallel-arm, placebo-controlled randomized trial using a standard auricular acupressure protocol for managing nausea and vomiting in a homogenous group of female breast cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. The null hypotheses of this study are: (1) There will be no significant difference in acute/delayed nausea and vomiting among groups during the intervention period; (2) There will be no significant difference in anticipatory nausea and vomiting among groups before the second cycle of chemotherapy; (3) There will be no significant difference in quality of life status among groups at the end of the first cycle of chemotherapy.
Conditions
Conditions (3)
Free-text conditions as registered, with the CancerIndex entity they were reconciled to and the match type.
| Condition (as posted) | Mapped entity | Match | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Breast Neoplasms | Breast Neoplasm | ONTOLOGY_EXACT | 0.98 |
| Nausea | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
| Vomiting | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
Interventions
Interventions (3)
| Intervention | Type | Mapped drug | Match |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sham auricular acupressure | Device | — | UNRESOLVED |
| Standard anti-emetic treatment (5-HT3 receptor antagonists and/or Dexamethasone) | Drug | — | UNRESOLVED |
| True auricular acupressure | Device | — | UNRESOLVED |
Design
Arms and outcomes
Arms (3)
- type
- EXPERIMENTAL
- label
- True Auricular Acupressure Group
- description
- Participants in this group will receive standard antiemetics before and during chemotherapy, and a 5-day auricular acupressure treatment protocol for controlling nausea and vomiting during the first cycle of chemotherapy.
- interventionNames
- Device: True auricular acupressure
- Drug: Standard anti-emetic treatment (5-HT3 receptor antagonists and/or Dexamethasone)
- type
- SHAM_COMPARATOR
- label
- Sham Auricular Acupressure Group
- description
- Participants in this group will receive standard antiemetic medications before and during chemotherapy, and a 5-day sham auricular acupressure intervention protocol during the first cycle of chemotherapy.
- interventionNames
- Device: Sham auricular acupressure
- Drug: Standard anti-emetic treatment (5-HT3 receptor antagonists and/or Dexamethasone)
Eligibility
Eligibility (as posted)
- Sex
- Female
- Minimum age
- 18 Years
Show eligibility criteria text
Inclusion Criteria: * Adult female patients aged above 18 years old; * A diagnosis of breast cancer stage I-III; * Chemotherapy- naive; * Auricular therapy-naive; * Be able to communicate in Chinese mandarin; * Have at least completed a primary school education; * Agree to participate in the study and be willing to give written informed consent; * Be scheduled to receive the first cycle of chemotherapy with moderately-high to highly emetogenic potentials; * Be provided with standard antiemetic medications during chemotherapy. Exclusion Criteria: * Extremely weak, disabled or immunocompromised cancer patients; * Be unable to follow the study instructions to do AT intervention or other research procedures; * Have concurrent radiotherapy or other kinds of antineoplastic therapy; * Currently take part in clinical studies on anti-emetic medications or other kinds of non-pharmacological interventions to control CINV, or other studies which are believed to produce potential interactions with this AT trial; * Have other health problems which may affect the symptoms of CINV such as gastrointestinal disease, liver disease, migraine, tinnitus and Ménière's disease, etc.; * Ear skin problems which are not appropriate for auricular acupressure including ear infections, ear scars and rashes, ear frostbite, and ear abscess, etc.
References
Publications (1)
- DERIVEDTan JY, Molassiotis A, Suen LKP, Liu J, Wang T, Huang HR. Effects of auricular acupressure on chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting in breast cancer patients: a preliminary randomized controlled trial. BMC Complement Med Ther. 2022 Mar 24;22(1):87. doi: 10.1186/s12906-022-03543-y. PMID 35331208