Acupuncture to ease chemotherapy-related nerve pain
Acupuncture for Chemotherapy-induced Peripheral Neuropathy Treatment (ACT)
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 ID | NIH-11080820 on NIH RePORTER |
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.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: 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.
Not a fit: 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.
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 performed: 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
Boston, United States
- Dana-Farber Cancer Inst — Boston, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Bao, Ting — Dana-Farber Cancer Inst
- Study coordinator: Bao, Ting
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 below.