The Adjunctive Effect of Acupuncture for Advanced Cancer Patients in a Collaborative Model of Palliative Care: Study Protocol for a 3-Arm Randomized Trial
Chen H, So TH, Cho WCS, Qin Z, Ma CH, Li SG, Yang Z, Jiang F, Wu J, Zhang ZJ, Kong FM, Lao L · Integrative Cancer Therapies · 2021 January
DOI 10.1177/15347354211012749
Objective
To investigate the adjunctive effect of acupuncture combined with standard palliative care in advanced cancer patients.
Conclusions
The study will provide evidence on the adjunctive effect of acupuncture added to standard care for advanced cancer patients undergoing palliative care.
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Insights
Acupuncture may enhance symptom relief for people with advanced cancer receiving palliative care when added to standard treatment.
This single-blinded randomized trial assigns people with advanced cancer receiving palliative care to manual acupuncture plus standard care, sham acupuncture plus standard care, or standard care alone. Participants receiving acupuncture or sham treatment attend sessions over three weeks and are followed for two months. Researchers assess overall symptom burden, fatigue, anxiety, depression, insomnia, pain, and quality of life.
The study is designed to determine whether manual acupuncture provides benefits beyond standard palliative care and beyond placebo-like sham acupuncture. Its primary focus is whether acupuncture reduces the overall burden of distressing symptoms, while secondary assessments examine whether it improves specific physical and emotional symptoms and quality of life.
