Clinical trial · Interventional
Different Types of Massage Therapy to Reduce Anxiety During Chemotherapy Infusion in Patients With Cancer
Assessing the Feasibility of Different Types of Massage to Reduce Anxiety During Chemotherapy Infusion
- Source
- ClinicalTrials.gov
- Retrieved
- Sep 17, 2026
- Layer
- normalized (units and labels harmonized; values unchanged)
- Run
- ING-CLINICALTRIALS-20260917-000001
Summary
Brief summary (as posted)
This clinical trial tests how well different types of massage therapy works to reduce anxiety during chemotherapy infusions in patients with cancer. Many cancer patients experience moderate to severe anxiety and anxiety can worsen by the anticipation of medical procedures that patients have to receive, particularly chemotherapy. Massage therapy, as a complementary treatment, has shown promise in lessening both physical and psychological symptoms associated with cancer and its treatments. Research has also shown the benefits of massage therapy in reducing pain, stress, anxiety, nausea (upset stomach), fatigue (tiredness), and depression in cancer patients. Different types of massage therapy may potentially reduce some cancer patients' symptoms, enhance their treatment, and reduce treatment related side 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hematopoietic and Lymphatic System Neoplasm | Hematopoietic and Lymphatic System Neoplasm | ONTOLOGY_EXACT | 0.98 |
| Malignant Solid Neoplasm | Malignant Solid Neoplasm | ONTOLOGY_EXACT | 0.98 |
Interventions
Interventions (4)
| Intervention | Type | Mapped drug | Match |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best Practice | Other | — | UNRESOLVED |
| Biospecimen Collection | Procedure | — | UNRESOLVED |
| Massage Therapy | Procedure | — | UNRESOLVED |
| Questionnaire Administration | Other | — | UNRESOLVED |
Design
Arms and outcomes
Arms (1)
- type
- EXPERIMENTAL
- label
- Supportive Care (FL, HNS, HA, combination, no massage)
- description
- Patients receive massage therapy according to a randomized schedule to the FL, HNS, hands/arms (HA), combination of all three groups (FL, HNS, HA) or no massage therapy over 30 minutes over 5 chemotherapy sessions total on study. Patients also undergo saliva sample collection on study.
- interventionNames
- Other: Best Practice
- Procedure: Biospecimen Collection
- Procedure: Massage Therapy
- Other: Questionnaire Administration
Primary outcomes (2)
- measure
- Participation rate
- timeFrame
- Up to 1 year
- description
- Will consider the study feasible if \>=70% of patients are able to complete the massage intervention at each session. Descriptive summary will be provided (including 95% confidence intervals \[CI\]).
- measure
Eligibility
Eligibility (as posted)
- Sex
- All
- Minimum age
- 18 Years
Show eligibility criteria text
Inclusion Criteria: * Participant must be 18 years of age or older at time of consent * The study is open to all participants regardless of gender, race, or ethnicity * Participants should have had at least 1 cycle of the chemotherapy regimen at the time of recruitment * Participant must have a baseline anxiety score \> 3 on the Visual Analog scale (VAS) * Scheduled for at least six more infusion sessions * Participant has had complete blood count (CBC) lab work completed in the past 24 hours Exclusion Criteria: * Platelet count less than 20,000. Patients taking anticoagulants are not excluded, as the protocol for massage in infusion ensures that deep pressure massage is never performed, and patient's massage will not exceed a 3 on the Walton scale * Absolute neutrophil count (ANC) less than 500 * Patient has received radiation therapy to any of the targeted areas within the past 90 days * Any patient that is currently using a cold therapy device that would interfere with their ability to have a massage without removing the device (cold gloves, cold socks) * Had surgery on their foot, leg, head, neck, shoulder, hands, or arms within the past three months * Participant has rashes, open wounds, or any skin conditions that could be exacerbated by massage * Known allergies to creams, lotions, or any other substances that may be used during the massage therapy sessions * Ongoing uncontrolled active psychiatric condition that would interfere in the conduct of the study (e.g., mood disorders, anxiety, psychosis disorders, or substance use), as determined by the patient's primary cancer team * Participants with a known allergy to Bioton dual-purpose massage cream or any of its ingredients will be excluded from the study * In order to minimize undue influence and coercion, the study team will not personally solicit an employee for participation: An employee who is under the direct/indirect supervision of the principal investigator (PI)/a co-investigator/the study manager and a direct study team member * Pregnancy * Any participants with bone metastasis
References
Publications (0)
Data not yet available