ACUPOX is a multicenter, open label, 2-cohort based phase II clinical study evaluating the interest of a standardized protocol of verum acupuncture in treatment of Oxaliplatin-induced peripheral neuropathy in patients with gastro-intestinal solid tumors who discontinued oxaliplatin-containing chemotherapy.
Agree to participate in this study, voluntarily signing a written informed consent form,
Aged ≥ 18 years,
Have an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status (ECOG PS) of 0-2,
Have histologically or cytologically confirmed gastro-intestinal solid tumors, previously treated with any oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy; a concomitant radio-chemotherapy course is allowed,
Had acupuncture sessions for the prevention of chemotherapy-induced side effects in the last 3 months prior to inclusion,
Had previous and/or current chemotherapy treatments with taxane-based regimens (e.g., the TFOX regimen [docetaxel, oxaliplatin, leucovorin, and 5-fluorouracil]),
Have a history of preexisting clinically-significant peripheral neuropathy due to any cause other than chemotherapy (borrelia infection, human immunodeficiency virus infection, hereditary factors, tumor compression, nutritional deprivation, alcohol, diabetes, etc.),
Have a recent history (within 4 weeks prior to start of acupuncture) of abusing alcohol, prescription, or illicit drugs (including cannabinoid), or medical, psychological, or social conditions that may interfere with the patient's compliance with the study intervention, NB: The patient should be informed that drinking alcohol should be avoided while on study.
Parallel
Acupuncture intervention
Other intervention6 weeks of acupuncture once a week. The acupuncture intervention will consist of weekly session administered over a period of 6 weeks (± 4 days). A two-way verum acupuncture treatment protocol will employ 8 selected acupoints. After week 7, patients included in Arm A may receive an optional 6 weeks of acupuncture. This option of acupuncture continuation will be left to the patient choice in agreement with a physician acupuncturist.
No acupuncture
Other interventionThe patient in the Arm B will not receive acupuncture treatment for a period of 6 weeks after randomization (weeks 1-6) and during the following weeks 8-13 (acupuncture intervention) if its NRS score is \<4/10 at week 7. If the patient' NRS score is ≥ 4/10 at week 7, the patient in control Arm B will receive the same acupuncture intervention that the patient in the Arm A (6 weeks).
2-point improvement in the global NRS
The primary endpoint is a 2-point improvement in the global numeric rating scale (NRS) score from randomization/inclusion defined by the patient at week 7. The 11-point NRS range from 0 to 10 (0 = no symptom, 1-3 = mild, 4-6 = moderate, 7-10 = severe).
Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) score
A success of acupuncture for the patient is defined by a 2-point improvement on the overall NRS between baseline and week 7 after the randomization of Cohort 1 and inclusion of Cohort 2.
Quality of Life Questionnaire-Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy twenty-item scale (QLQ-CIPN20) questionnaire
The EORTC QLQ-CIPN20 questionnaire consists of 20 items that are divided into 3 subscales: the items in CIPN20 have been divided into three subscales. The sensory subscale consists of items 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, and 18; motor: items 7, 8, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, and 19; and autonomic nerve-related: items 16, 17, and 20. Each subscale is summed and linearly transformed to a score that can range from 0 to 100, where higher scores represent greater CIPN symptom severity. Patients will rate their experience for each symptom during the previous week using scores from 1 (not at all) to 4 (very much).
Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) score
This 9-item BPI self-reported questionnaire provides information on the intensity of pain and the degree to which pain interferes with function. Pain is rated over the prior week and the degree to which the pain interferes with activities using a 0 to 10-point scale.
Peripheral sensory neuropathy grading scale
Severity of the peripheral sensory neuropathies will be classified using a 4-point scale ranging from grade 1 to grade 4 per criteria established in NCI CTCAE v. 5.0.
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