Acupuncture to ease chemotherapy-related nerve pain
Official title: Acupuncture for Chemotherapy-induced Peripheral Neuropathy Treatment (ACT)
Funded at Dana-Farber Cancer Inst · NIH-11080820 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project tests whether real acupuncture, compared with sham acupuncture, reduces moderate-to-severe chemotherapy-related nerve pain in cancer survivors.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R37 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Dana-Farber Cancer Inst NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Boston, United States) |
| Project start | December 1, 2023 |
| Project end | November 30, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $659,998 |
| NIH project number | 4R37CA248563-06 |
| Project ID | NIH-11080820 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are adult cancer survivors with moderate-to-severe chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy pain who are willing to undergo acupuncture sessions, a skin biopsy, blood draws, and fMRI scans.
✕Less likely to help
People without chemotherapy-related neuropathy, those with only mild symptoms, or those unwilling to undergo biopsy or MRI are unlikely to benefit or be eligible.
What this research studies
You will receive either real or sham acupuncture and your pain will be tracked from the start through 12 weeks. The team will take a small skin biopsy to measure nerve fiber density and run blood tests to profile inflammatory and neuroactive metabolites using lipidomics and metabolomics. Around week 8 you will have a brain MRI (fMRI) to look at pain-processing areas like the insula and cingulate. The study links pain changes with peripheral nerve and brain measures to understand how acupuncture might work for CIPN.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could show acupuncture reduces chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy pain and identify biological markers that predict who benefits.
How similar studies have gone: Prior smaller trials and the parent ACT trial have suggested acupuncture can reduce CIPN pain, but mechanistic evidence and larger confirmatory studies are still limited.
Where this research is happening
-
Dana-Farber Cancer Inst
Boston, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Bao, Ting — Dana-Farber Cancer Inst
- Study coordinator: Bao, Ting
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
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Non-invasive, microscopic biomarkers to detect CIPN in chemotherapy patients
This grant aims to develop a non-invasive imaging method to measure nerve changes in patients undergoing chemotherapy to better understand and monitor chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN).
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Longitudinal study of how body-sense relates to chemotherapy nerve damage
This study follows people with breast or gastrointestinal cancer and healthy controls to see if brain processing of body sensations contributes to chemotherapy-induced nerve damage.
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A new screen for chemotherapy-related nerve problems in young children
A clinician-scientist at Yale is developing a child-friendly survey to quickly screen for nerve-related side effects from cancer treatment in kids from birth to age 5.
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How the immune system’s CD4+ T cells in women might prevent chemotherapy-related nerve pain
A study in mice explores whether female immune cells in nerve tissue can lessen pain from chemotherapy, with potential implications for preventing CIPN in women.
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Axonal transport and chemotherapy-related nerve pain
This grant studies why certain cancer patients develop painful nerve damage from chemotherapy and explores ways to prevent or treat it.
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Remote monitoring and nurse follow-up to manage chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy
A program uses symptom reporting tools with nurse follow-up to reduce and better manage chemotherapy-induced neuropathy for cancer survivors, during and after treatment.
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.