Clinical trials

The aim of this study was to systematically evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of electroacupuncture (EA) combined with PD-1 inhibitors in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who have an ECOG performance status of 2 through a multicenter, randomized, sham-controlled clinical trial. The core scientific question addressed in this study was whether EA combined with standard immunotherapy could further improve progression-free survival (PFS), immune function, and quality of life in these patients. Patients meeting the inclusion criteria were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to receive EA plus a PD-1 inhibitor (trial group) or sham EA plus a PD-1 inhibitor (control group) through a computerized randomization system. PD-1 inhibitors were administered every 21 days for four to six cycles, followed by maintenance therapy according to each patient's condition. EA intervention was initiated on the first day of each immunotherapy cycle and administered once daily for five sessions per cycle, continuing for four to six cycles. The primary endpoint was progression-free survival (PFS). The secondary endpoints included objective response rate (ORR), overall survival (OS), first-line treatment completion rate, quality of life as assessed by the EORTC QLQ-C30 scale, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) syndrome score, immune function index, and incidence of adverse events according to CTCAE 5.0 criteria. In addition, peripheral blood was collected from patients at baseline for non-coding RNA sequencing, and differentially expressed genes were identified through bioinformatics analysis to determine potential molecular biomarkers associated with the synergistic effects of EA, thereby providing a basis for accurately identifying patients likely to benefit from EA therapy.

Observation and exploration of the improvement in cough symptoms in postoperative lung cancer patients with Transcutaneous Acupoint Electrical Stimulation (TAES), the change in Cough Symptom Score (CSS) compared to baseline, the change in Visual Analog Scale (VAS) score for cough symptoms compared to baseline, the change in total score of Leicester Cough Questionnaire-Mandarin Chinese version (LCQ-MC) compared to baseline, and overall evaluation of treatment effectiveness by patients. A total of 84 postoperative lung cancer patients with cough were strictly selected according to the inclusion/exclusion criteria and treated and followed up according to the research plan requirements. Clinical observation forms were completed and clinical data were recorded in the database. Statistical analysis was performed on relevant clinical observation indicators to report research results and write related papers.

The goal of this clinical trial is to elucidate the clinical efficacy and safety of electroacupuncture combined with PD-1 inhibitor therapy in elderly patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) through a multicenter, randomized controlled clinical trial. The main question it aims to answer is: the combination of electroacupuncture and PD-1 inhibitor therapy has demonstrated significant improvements in both clinical efficacy and safety profiles among elderly patients with advanced NSCLC. Researchers will compare a sham electroacupuncture group combined with PD-1 inhibitor therapy (serving as the control group) to see if the intervention group exhibits superior therapeutic efficacy and safety outcomes. Participants will be randomly assigned to one of two groups: an electroacupuncture combined with an immune checkpoint inhibitor group, or a sham electroacupuncture combined with an immune checkpoint inhibitor group. The immune checkpoint inhibitor will be administered on a 21-day cycle, with a total of 4 to 6 treatment cycles, followed by the option for maintenance therapy. Electroacupuncture treatment will commence on the same day as the initiation of the immune checkpoint inhibitor cycle, administered once daily for a total of five sessions per cycle, with 4 to 6 cycles in total. The primary outcome measure is progression-free survival (PFS). Secondary outcomes include objective response rate (ORR), quality of life, immune function, traditional Chinese medicine syndrome scores for lung cancer, and safety parameters. This study aims to establish the efficacy and safety of electroacupuncture combined with PD-1 inhibitors in elderly patients with advanced NSCLC. Additionally, peripheral non-coding RNA will be collected at baseline to analyze differentially expressed genes, thereby identifying molecular predictive biomarkers for patients who may benefit most from this combined treatment approach.

Postoperative immunoadjuvant therapy has been proven to significantly reduce the risk of recurrence after resectable NSCLC, and has become a new standard of postoperative adjuvant therapy for stage II-III NSCLC. Immunotherapy faces challenges such as immune resistance, heterogeneity of biomarker expression, and limitation of immune-suitable population. How to reduce the rate of recurrence and metastasis after surgery, enhance the therapeutic effect of immunotherapy, and then prolong the survival period and improve the quality of life, has become an urgent problem facing the current clinical. Based on the standards of evidence-based medicine, this study for the first time carried out a large sample, multi-center, randomized parallel controlled clinical study to obtain high-quality clinical evidence of the effectiveness and safety of electro-acupuncture and Zilongjin tablet synergic treatment, and formed a standard treatment plan of traditional Chinese medicine.