Clinical trial · Interventional
Adjunctive Effect of Acupuncture for Advanced Cancer Patients With Palliative Care: a Three-arm Randomized Trial
The Adjunctive Effect of Acupuncture for Advanced Cancer Patients in a Collaborative Model of Palliative Care: a Three-arm Pragmatic Randomized Trial
NCT04398875CI-TRIAL-00045212unknownN/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)
The proposed study aims to evaluate the adjunctive effect of MA with standard care (ASC) for relieving cancer-related symptoms in a collaborative model of palliative care compared to sham MA plus standard care (SSC) or standard care alone (SC).
Conditions
Conditions (1)
Free-text conditions as registered, with the CancerIndex entity they were reconciled to and the match type.
| Condition (as posted) | Mapped entity | Match | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Advanced Cancer | Malignant Neoplasm | CURATED_BROADER | 0.78 |
Interventions
Interventions (3)
| Intervention | Type | Mapped drug | Match |
|---|---|---|---|
| Acupuncture and standard care (ASC) | Other | — | UNRESOLVED |
| Sham acupuncture and standard care (SSC) | Other | — | UNRESOLVED |
| Standard care (SC) | Other | — | UNRESOLVED |
Design
Arms and outcomes
Arms (3)
- type
- EXPERIMENTAL
- label
- ASC
- description
- Traditional manual acupuncture with standard care (ASC) will be provided. Subjects in the ASC group will receive 9 sessions of acupuncture and standard care for 3 weeks. A semi-standardized acupuncture treatment protocol (combined fixed acupoints with additional acupoints by symptom differentiation) will be employed. The fixed acupuncture points including, Guanyuan (CV4), Xuanzhong(GB39), Sanyinjiao (SP6), Yinlingquan (SP9), Zusanli (ST36), Yingtang (EX-HN3), Baihui (GV20), and Qihai (CV6) will be used in every session.
- interventionNames
- Other: Acupuncture and standard care (ASC)
- type
- SHAM_COMPARATOR
- label
- SSC
- description
- Sham acupuncture plus standard care (SSC) will be provided. Subjects in the SSC group will receive 9 sessions of sham acupuncture and standard care for 3 weeks. The Streitberger sham acupuncture will be employed. The selection of acupoints is the same as ASC.
- interventionNames
- Other: Sham acupuncture and standard care (SSC)
Eligibility
Eligibility (as posted)
- Sex
- All
- Minimum age
- 18 Years
Show eligibility criteria text
Inclusion Criteria: * All cases are subject to pathology and (or) cytology for a diagnosis of malignant tumour (pathological type is not restricted) at stage IIIB or IV; * Aged 18 years or above; * Expected survival time longer than 16 weeks; Exclusion Criteria: * Disseminated intravascular coagulation or severe thrombocytopenia with a bleeding tendency, i.e., low platelet count \< 35000/µL; INR \> 1.5; hemoglobin ≤ 90 g/dL; white blood cell count ≤ 4x109/L; * Uncontrolled active skin infection; * Needle phobia; * Inability to read and understand Chinese; * Not signed written informed consent. * Receiving surgery during the whole study period; * Receiving acupuncture treatment in the last 3 months
References
Publications (1)
- DERIVEDChen H, So TH, Cho WC, Qin Z, Ma CH, Li SG, Yang Z, Jiang F, Wu J, Zhang ZJ, Kong FM, Lao L. The Adjunctive Effect of Acupuncture for Advanced Cancer Patients in a Collaborative Model of Palliative Care: Study Protocol for a 3-Arm Randomized Trial. Integr Cancer Ther. 2021 Jan-Dec;20:15347354211012749. doi: 10.1177/15347354211012749. PMID 33957783