Clinical trial · Interventional
Balancing Method for Pain Related to Advanced Cancer
Acupuncture for Pain Related to Advanced Cancer Using Dr. Tan's Balancing Method
NCT04176575CI-TRIAL-00073241completedN/AClinicalTrials.gov clinicaltrialsProvenance
- 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)
Balancing Method for Pain Related to Advanced Cancer seeks to confirm the benefit of acupuncture for patients with pain related to advanced cancer.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Invasive Cancer | Invasive Malignant Neoplasm | ALIAS | 0.90 |
| Metastatic Cancer | Malignant Neoplasm | CURATED_BROADER | 0.78 |
| Pain, Cancer | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
Interventions
Interventions (1)
| Intervention | Type | Mapped drug | Match |
|---|---|---|---|
| Acupuncture | Other | — | UNRESOLVED |
Design
Arms and outcomes
Arms (1)
- type
- EXPERIMENTAL
- label
- Acupuncture
- description
- Eligible participants: * have advanced stage cancer and associated pain * will receive up to 12 acupuncture sessions * will attend sessions at UPMC's Center for Integrative Medicine * will complete study assessments at each visit * will complete a follow-up 4 to 6 weeks after their last acupuncture visit. Total study involvement will range from 16 to 18 weeks.
- interventionNames
- Other: Acupuncture
Primary outcomes (14)
- measure
- Measuring effectiveness of acupuncture by assessing change in pain ratings Weekly from Week 1-Week 12 and 4 week follow-up using PROMIS ® Numeric Rating Scale v.1.0 - Pain Intensity 1a (NRS)
- timeFrame
- Baseline, each visit; up to 18 weeks (per participant)
- description
- Participant report of pain on average on a scale from 'no pain' (0) to "worst imaginable pain" (10). Higher scores mean worse outcome.
- measure
- Measuring effectiveness of acupuncture by assessing change in pain intensity ratings Weekly from Week 1-Week 12 and 4 week follow-up using PROMIS ® Item Bank v.1.0 measures: Pain Intensity Scale
Eligibility
Eligibility (as posted)
- Sex
- All
- Minimum age
- 18 Years
Show eligibility criteria text
Inclusion Criteria: 1. Age 18 or older. 2. Current diagnosis of a malignancy. 3. Locally invasive, metastatic, or systemic involvement from the disease, which would be anticipated to produce pain. 4. Average pain level, on a numeric rating scale, of 4/10 or higher on the Numeric Rating Scale (NRS). 5. Receiving treatment through Hillman Cancer Center, Magee Hospital, or 1 of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute sites. 6. Able to read and write English. Exclusion Criteria: 1. Experience with acupuncture within the prior 3 months. 2. Platelet count \< 50,000. 3. Absolute Neutrophil Count \< 1,000. 4. Treatment with anticoagulant medication, other than prophylactic levels of heparin or low molecular weight heparin preparations or anti-platelet agents. 5. Known coagulopathy. 6. Pregnancy. While it is unlikely that any patients undergoing advanced cancer treatment will be pregnant, given the lack of documented safety, this is an exclusion.
References
Publications (0)
Data not yet available
No reference posted for this study.