Feasibility Trial Self-Acupuncture for Chemotherapy Cancer Patients

The proposed study will employ a pragmatic mixed methods randomised parallel-group exploratory design to determine the feasibility of delivering self-acupuncture within an NHS cancer care setting. The trial will explore the feasibility and acceptability of all aspects of a definitive clinical trial of teaching cancer patients to self-administer acupuncture to alleviate symptoms of cancer and the side effects of conventional chemotherapy treatment. In addition the feasibility trial will provide preliminary data on effectiveness to inform the sample size calculation for a controlled clinical trial. Patients will be randomly allocated to receive either: 1) self-acupuncture in addition to standard care or 2) standard care alone. Participants randomised to the self-acupuncture arm will be asked to attend a 1.5 hour group workshop delivered by an experienced practitioners and teachers of self-acupuncture. Participants allocated to standard care will be offered training in self-acupuncture once the trial is complete to address any ongoing side effects from their cancer and its treatment. Patients will be recruited at the initiation of their chemotherapy cancer treatment from UCH Macmillan Cancer Centre. Participants will complete baseline outcome measures and be asked to complete follow up outcomes measures at the end of chemotherapy treatment, and 3 months post chemotherapy treatment. At the end of chemotherapy treatment participants will also be asked to take part in a qualitative telephone interview to explore their views on the design of the study and if allocated to self-acupuncture their views on the intervention. At 3 months post chemotherapy treatment those allocated to self-acupuncture will be invited to participate in a second qualitative interview to explore the long-term practice and effects of self-acupuncture. Qualitative interviews will also be conducted with stakeholders (acupuncturists delivering workshops and UCH Macmillan Cancer Centre staff) to explore