Acupuncture for Chemotherapy-induced Peripheral Neuropathy

The Efficacy and Safety of Acupuncture for Alleviating Chemotherapy-induced Peripheral Neuropathy in Colorectal Cancer Patients: a Pilot Single-blinded, Randomized Sham-controlled Trial

In this study, a 24-week, single blinded, randomized controlled clinical trial will be conducted to examine the efficacy and safety of acupuncture for Chemotherapy Induced Peripheral Neuropathy (CIPN) in colorectal cancer patients in Hong Kong.

This is a pilot single-blind, randomized, sham-controlled trial. 84 colorectal cancer patients will be randomly assigned to acupuncture group or control group. The duration of the treatment will be 12 weeks with 1 session per week and the follow-up period will be 12 weeks.

Inclusion Criteria:

• aged ≥18 years old
• newly diagnosed with stage Ⅱto Ⅲcolorectal cancer
• who plan to receive 8 cycles of adjuvant oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy
• who have not received any acupuncture
• life expectancy of ≥ six months.

Exclusion Criteria:

• uncooperative subjects
• not be able to comprehend and communicate
• non-Chinese reading people
• having peripheral neuropathy caused by other diseases, for example, diabetes, stroke
• heart disease, for example, arrhythmia, heart failure, myocardial infarction or patients with pacemakers
• having a bleeding tendency
• be pregnant or lactating women
• having impaired hepatic or renal function
• using any pharmaceutical agents (for example, gabapentin, pregabalin), nutraceutical agents (for example, vitamin B6, vitamin E) and herbal medication for CIPN treatment.