Neoplasms

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All Conditions

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Esophageal Neoplasms

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Gastrointestinal Neoplasms

Carcinoma, Ductal

Digestive System Neoplasms

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Neoplasms by Histologic Type

Neuromuscular Diseases

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Gastrointestinal Diseases

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Esophageal Diseases

Stomach Diseases

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Anal Cancer

Small Intestine Cancer

Neuroepithelioma

Antineoplastic Agents

All Drugs and Chemicals

Oxaliplatin

Fluorouracil

Patients undergo acupuncture during chemotherapy infusion on day 1 and fluorouracil pump disconnect on day 3 of each biweekly chemotherapy infusion over 12 weeks. Patients also undergo self-administered acupressure over 11 minutes daily for 12 weeks and undergo standard of care oral cryotherapy.

Patients undergo standard of care oral cryotherapy.

Acupuncture Therapy

Acupressure Therapy

Oral Cryotherapy

Questionnaire Administration

Quality-of-Life Assessment

Stacey Cohen

This phase II trial investigates how well oral cryotherapy plus acupressure and acupuncture compared with oral cryotherapy alone work in decreasing chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy in patients with gastrointestinal cancer who are receiving oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy. Acupressure is the application of pressure or localized massage to specific sites on the body to control symptoms such as pain or nausea. Acupuncture is the technique of inserting thin needles through the skin at specific points on the body to control pain and other symptoms. Cryotherapy uses cold temperature such as oral ice chips to prevent abnormally increased pain sensation. Giving oral cryotherapy with acupressure and acupuncture may work better in decreasing chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy from oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy in patients with gastrointestinal cancer compared to oral cryotherapy alone.

OUTLINE: Patients are randomized to 1 of 2 arms.

ARM I: Patients undergo acupuncture during chemotherapy infusion on day 1 and fluorouracil pump disconnect on day 3 of each biweekly chemotherapy infusion over 12 weeks. Patients also undergo self-administered acupressure over 11 minutes daily for 12 weeks and undergo standard of care oral cryotherapy.

ARM II: Patients undergo standard of care oral cryotherapy.

Oral Cryotherapy Plus Acupressure and Acupuncture Versus Oral Cryotherapy for Decreasing Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy From Oxaliplatin-Based Chemotherapy in Patients With Gastrointestinal Cancer

Pilot Study of Oral Cryotherapy vs. Oral Cryotherapy Plus Acupuncture and Acupressure to Decrease Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy From Oxaliplatin-Based Chemotherapy for GI Cancers

Measured by the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC)-CIPN 20. Severity of CIPN will be summarized for each treatment arm, and treatment comparisons made via linear regression model with adjustment for baseline severity level. The EORTC QLQ-CIPN20 is a 20-item questionnaire that evaluates CIPN using 3 subscales that assess sensory (9 items), motor (8 items), and autonomic (3 items) symptoms and functioning with each item measured on a 1-4 scale (1, not at all; 4, very much). The sensory subscale raw scores range from 1 to 36. The CIPN-20 subscale raw scores are linearly converted to a 0-100 scale such that a high score corresponds to a worse condition or more symptoms.

Measured by Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) version 5. Incidences of CIPN (grade 2 or higher), pain, fatigue, nausea, and anxiety will be compared between treatment arms using Chi-squared or Fisher's exact tests as appropriate.

The Neuropen is used to assess touch and pressure perception as well as protective pain and sharpness sensation. Touch and pressure sensation will be assessed using a 10-g monofilament on the subject's dominant foot. Pain and subjective sharpness sensation will be assessed using the 40-g Neurotip on the dominant foot. Loss of pain and pressure sensation are associated with increased CIPN.

A study-specific 128-Hz tuning fork will be used to assess vibration sensation on dominant lower extremity and dominant upper extremity sites. If the patient feels the vibration for 15 seconds or longer, this is defined as normal. If the patient feels the vibration less than 15 seconds, this is defined as absent or decreased vibration sensation. Vibration sensation is lost sooner in CIPN, which means that shorter duration of vibration scores are associated with increased CIPN.

Adherence to acupuncture treatment among patients in the intervention arm will be described as a proportion with 95% confidence interval. Reasons for treatment non-adherence and delivered dose intensity of chemotherapy will be noted.

Measured by patient-reported (National Cancer Institute \[NCI\] Patient Reported Outcomes \[PRO\]-CTCAE, Brief Pain Inventory \[BPI\], oral dysesthesia) and provider-assessed (CTCAE version 5) grading scales.

National Cancer Institute (NCI)

The Safeway Foundation

University of Washington

Spots Global Cancer Trial Database for small intestinal carcinoma