Year of Grant: 2014

Location: United States

Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) is a common side effect of cancer treatment that negatively affects a patient’s quality of life. It can lead to treatment delays, dose reductions and chemotherapy discontinuation which negatively affect treatment outcomes. At least 30-40% of patients undergoing chemotherapy are affected, which includes pain, numbness and tingling in hands and feet. Only few treatment options exist, of which none are really effective.

This phase II clinical trial takes advantage of the brain's ability to change itself when presented by new stimuli. It will examine neurofeedback as a treatment for CIPN by including a placebo treatment design and assessing brain regions associated with CIPN. Patients will be trained to control the activity in the brain areas associated with CIPN. Changes in QoL will also be examined.

If neurofeedback is found efficacious, this type of intervention could be more broadly applied as a standard of care to treat CIPN. It could also be applied to prevent CIPN or treat other cancer symptoms such as for relief of psychological distress, normalization of sleep patterns and chemotherapy induced cognitive dysfunction.