Breast NeoplasmsPhase 2/3NCT00612443
Healing Touch and Health-Related Quality of Life in Women With Breast Cancer Receiving Radiation Therapy
A Phase 2/3 study testing Healing Touch in people with Breast Neoplasms, run by University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee at 1 site in United States.
Trial summary
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of Healing Touch to improve health-related quality of life in women with breast cancer receiving radiation therapy. Research Hypothesis Healing Touch significantly improves health-related quality of life when compared to a placebo treatment, among women… Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 18 years and older, women only
- Conditions the study is for
- Breast Neoplasms
- What is being tested?
- Healing Touch
- Type of treatment
- Lifestyle or therapy programme
- Could I receive a placebo?
- Yes, some participants may receive a placebo
- How many people
- 40 participants
- Where
- 1 siteUnited States
- Study dates
- Jan 2008to Dec 2008
- Phase
- Phase 2/3
- Are there results?
- None posted in the registry
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 18 years and older
- Women only
- No healthy volunteers
- Adult, Older adult
Who may be able to join
- Any female patient being treated with radiation therapy for a diagnosis of stage 0, I, or II breast cancer
- Aged 18 years or greater
- Understands written and spoken English
- receiving 4, 5 or 6 weeks of radiation are eligible with a minimum study enrollment time of 4 weeks.
Who cannot join
- Anyone not meeting the above
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country.
About this study
Official title: Healing Touch and Health-Related Quality of Life in Women With Breast Cancer in Women With Breast Cancer Receiving Radiation Therapy
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of Healing Touch to improve health-related quality of life in women with breast cancer receiving radiation therapy.
Research Hypothesis Healing Touch significantly improves health-related quality of life when compared to a placebo treatment, among women receiving radiation therapy for treatment of breast cancer.
Read the detailed description
Purpose/objective The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of the CAM biofield therapy of Healing Touch to improve health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in women with breast cancer receiving radiation therapy. The proposed study will build on existing research by Cook, Guerrio and Slater (2004) who studied Healing Touch and HRQOL in women receiving radiation therapy for breast and gynecologic cancers. Outcome measures of HRQOL as measured by Short Form-36 (SF-36) tool were used (Norris et al. 2004). The SF-36 is a tool to measure HRQOL, a 36 item tool that measures nine domains of health: a) functional limitations in physical activity secondary to health problems, b) limitations in social activity secondary to physical or mental health issues, c) limitation in role activities secondary to physical health problems, d) limitation in role activities secondary emotional health problems, e) to pain, f) overall mental health, g) vitality, h) perceptions of health and i) health transitions (Norris et. al., 2004). Measurements were taken at baseline and end of study.
Cook et al (2004) found that all women in the study had improved scores on the HRQOL Short Form-36 (SF-36) tool used (Norris et al. 2004). Equally important, the women who received Healing Touch had greater improvement in all subscale scores in comparison to placebo treatment. The overall score on the SF-36 (p value .00) and areas of emotional role functioning (p value .00), mental health (p value .03) and health transitions (p value .00) had statistical significance in the Healing Touch treatment group. The placebo treatment group had statistical significance in the areas of physical role functioning (p value .00) and health transition (p value .01).In group comparisons of mean SF-36 scores, the Healing Touch group had statistically greater improvement, than the placebo group, with a p value of < .05, in the areas of physical functioning, pain and vitality.
The total number of participants in the study was 62 women, with 38 who had gynecologic cancers and 24 participants with breast cancer. The number of breast cancer patients was inadequate to perform a separate statistical analysis of this sub-group (Cook et al., 2004). Therefore, this study will specifically focus on women with breast cancer to investigate the efficacy of using Healing Touch to improve HRQOL improvement in women with breast cancer receiving radiation therapy.
Research Aims The research aim of the proposed study is to determine the efficacy of Healing Touch in significantly improving HRQOL, as measured by the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Breast (FACT-B)(Brady et al., 1997; Cella et al., 1993) scale among women receiving radiation therapy for breast cancer treatment (see Appendix A for FACT-B; see Appendix B for FACT-B scoring).
Research Hypothesis Healing Touch significantly improves HRQOL, as measured by the FACT-B, when compared to a placebo treatment, among women receiving radiation therapy for treatment of breast cancer.
- Conditions
- Breast Neoplasms
- Being tested
- Sham treatment, Healing Touch
- Keywords
- breast cancer
- Medical subject headings
- Breast Neoplasms
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
Sham treatmentBehavioural
Also called placebo treatment
The sham/placebo treatment will consist of the RN graduate assistant standing near the table, slowly walking around from each side and to the foot of the table stopping periodically. The RN graduate assistant will be instructed to not focus on the patient in thought. While providing the placebo treatment the RN graduate assistant will mentally do multiplication equations. This serves as a distracter to keep the RN graduate assistant from setting intention or thoughts on the participant. At no time will the RN performing the placebo treatment move hands or arms over or around the participant or come in physical contact with the participant. The placebo treatment will be a minimum of 20 minutes but no greater than 30 minutes in length. A timer will be set in the treatment room to notify the practitioner of the time limit.
Healing TouchBehavioural
Behavioral: Healing Touch The Healing Touch intervention will consist of a brief meditative state in which the practitioners sets the intention of healing for the session. A hand scan to assess the biofield; consists of a technique of where the practitioner slowly moves her hands three to six inches above the body going from head to toe, to assess for any disturbances in the biofield; a non-contact Healing Touch treatment which will follow, to include a connection of the chakras. The chakras are connected by placing the hands above the body over each chakra, starting at the feet and progressing to the head. This will be followed by smoothing the biofield, achieved by the Practitioner slowly moving her hands above the body from the head and moving towards the feet (Hover-Kramer et al., 1996). At no time will the Practitioner make physical contact with the participant during the treatment. The treatment will be 20 minutes to 30 minutes in length.
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Experimental | non-contact Healing Touch treatment for 20-30 minutes once a week during the course of radiation therapy Receives: Behavioral: Healing Touch |
| 2 | Sham comparator | A RN graduate assistant will provide a sham treatment of 20-30 minutes of presence. Receives: Behavioral: Sham treatment |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
The primary outcome measure is the difference in the FACT-B total score from baseline, midpoint and end of study participation.
Measured: Measurement at study entrance, after 3 weeks and study exit (4, 5 or 6 weeks).
Secondary outcomes (1)
Secondary endpoints are the sub-scales of the FACT-B scores physical well- being, social/family well-being, emotional well-being, functional well-being,and breast cancer subscales)
Measured: study entrance, after 3 weeks and at study exit
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted11 Feb 2008 (estimated)
- Study startJan 2008
- Primary completionDec 2008
- Study completionDec 2008
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Other trials for Breast NeoplasmsStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Phase 2/3
- Primary purpose
- Supportive care
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- Single blind
- Who is masked
- Participant
- Enrolment
- 40 participants (actual)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Investigators
- Lisa L Schnepper, MSN, PhD (c), Principal investigator, University of Wisconsin, MilwaukeeLaura M Anderko, PhD, Study chair, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT00612443
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- 07.0.243
- Other IDs
- 07-006400
- Status last verified
- Jan 2008
- First submitted
- 25 Jan 2008
- Last updated
- 21 Jan 2009
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- No
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 21 Jan 2009. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- Healing Touch and Health-Related Quality of Life in Women With Breast Cancer in Women With Breast Cancer Receiving Radiation Therapy
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT00612443
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- 07.0.243
- Conditions
- Breast Neoplasms
- Keywords
- breast cancer
- Phase
- Phase 2/3
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Completed
- Enrolment
- 40 participants (actual)
- Lead sponsor
- University of Wisconsin, MilwaukeeUniversity, hospital or other
- Study start
- Jan 2008
- Primary completion
- Dec 2008 (actual)
- Study completion
- Dec 2008 (actual)
- First posted
- 11 Feb 2008 (estimated)
- Results
- Not posted in the source record
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of Healing Touch to improve health-related quality of life in women with breast cancer receiving radiation therapy.
Research Hypothesis Healing Touch significantly improves health-related quality of life when compared to a placebo treatment, among women receiving radiation therapy for treatment of breast cancer.
Detailed description
Purpose/objective The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of the CAM biofield therapy of Healing Touch to improve health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in women with breast cancer receiving radiation therapy. The proposed study will build on existing research by Cook, Guerrio and Slater (2004) who studied Healing Touch and HRQOL in women receiving radiation therapy for breast and gynecologic cancers. Outcome measures of HRQOL as measured by Short Form-36 (SF-36) tool were used (Norris et al. 2004). The SF-36 is a tool to measure HRQOL, a 36 item tool that measures nine domains of health: a) functional limitations in physical activity secondary to health problems, b) limitations in social activity secondary to physical or mental health issues, c) limitation in role activities secondary to physical health problems, d) limitation in role activities secondary emotional health problems, e) to pain, f) overall mental health, g) vitality, h) perceptions of health and i) health transitions (Norris et. al., 2004). Measurements were taken at baseline and end of study.
Cook et al (2004) found that all women in the study had improved scores on the HRQOL Short Form-36 (SF-36) tool used (Norris et al. 2004). Equally important, the women who received Healing Touch had greater improvement in all subscale scores in comparison to placebo treatment. The overall score on the SF-36 (p value .00) and areas of emotional role functioning (p value .00), mental health (p value .03) and health transitions (p value .00) had statistical significance in the Healing Touch treatment group. The placebo treatment group had statistical significance in the areas of physical role functioning (p value .00) and health transition (p value .01).In group comparisons of mean SF-36 scores, the Healing Touch group had statistically greater improvement, than the placebo group, with a p value of < .05, in the areas of physical functioning, pain and vitality.
The total number of participants in the study was 62 women, with 38 who had gynecologic cancers and 24 participants with breast cancer. The number of breast cancer patients was inadequate to perform a separate statistical analysis of this sub-group (Cook et al., 2004). Therefore, this study will specifically focus on women with breast cancer to investigate the efficacy of using Healing Touch to improve HRQOL improvement in women with breast cancer receiving radiation therapy.
Research Aims The research aim of the proposed study is to determine the efficacy of Healing Touch in significantly improving HRQOL, as measured by the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Breast (FACT-B)(Brady et al., 1997; Cella et al., 1993) scale among women receiving radiation therapy for breast cancer treatment (see Appendix A for FACT-B; see Appendix B for FACT-B scoring).
Research Hypothesis Healing Touch significantly improves HRQOL, as measured by the FACT-B, when compared to a placebo treatment, among women receiving radiation therapy for treatment of breast cancer.
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Supportive care
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- Single blind (participant)
- Number of arms
- 2
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Experimental | Behavioral: Healing Touchnon-contact Healing Touch treatment for 20-30 minutes once a week during the course of radiation therapy |
| 2 | Sham comparator | Behavioral: Sham treatmentA RN graduate assistant will provide a sham treatment of 20-30 minutes of presence. |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 18 years and older
- Sex
- Female only
- Healthy volunteers
- Not accepted
- Age groups
- Adult, Older adult
Key inclusion criteria (4 listed)
- Any female patient being treated with radiation therapy for a diagnosis of stage 0, I, or II breast cancer
- Aged 18 years or greater
- Understands written and spoken English
- receiving 4, 5 or 6 weeks of radiation are eligible with a minimum study enrollment time of 4 weeks.
Key exclusion criteria (1 listed)
- Anyone not meeting the above
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| Sham treatmentAlso: placebo treatmentThe sham/placebo treatment will consist of the RN graduate assistant standing near the table, slowly walking around from each side and to the foot of the table stopping periodically. The RN graduate assistant will be instructed to not focus on the patient in thought. While providing the placebo treatment the RN graduate assistant will mentally do multiplication equations. This serves as a distracter to keep the RN graduate assistant from setting intention or thoughts on the participant. At no time will the RN performing the placebo treatment move hands or arms over or around the participant or come in physical contact with the participant. The placebo treatment will be a minimum of 20 minutes but no greater than 30 minutes in length. A timer will be set in the treatment room to notify the practitioner of the time limit. | Behavioural | 2 |
| Healing TouchBehavioral: Healing Touch The Healing Touch intervention will consist of a brief meditative state in which the practitioners sets the intention of healing for the session. A hand scan to assess the biofield; consists of a technique of where the practitioner slowly moves her hands three to six inches above the body going from head to toe, to assess for any disturbances in the biofield; a non-contact Healing Touch treatment which will follow, to include a connection of the chakras. The chakras are connected by placing the hands above the body over each chakra, starting at the feet and progressing to the head. This will be followed by smoothing the biofield, achieved by the Practitioner slowly moving her hands above the body from the head and moving towards the feet (Hover-Kramer et al., 1996). At no time will the Practitioner make physical contact with the participant during the treatment. The treatment will be 20 minutes to 30 minutes in length. | Behavioural | 1 |
Primary outcome
The primary outcome measure is the difference in the FACT-B total score from baseline, midpoint and end of study participation.
Time frame: Measurement at study entrance, after 3 weeks and study exit (4, 5 or 6 weeks).
1 secondary outcome
Secondary endpoints are the sub-scales of the FACT-B scores physical well- being, social/family well-being, emotional well-being, functional well-being,and breast cancer subscales)
Time frame: study entrance, after 3 weeks and at study exit
Results and safety
The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 21 Jan 2009.
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Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part. This study is not recruiting at the moment.
Lisa L Schnepper, MSN, PhD (c) principal investigator
University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee
Laura M Anderko, PhD study chair
University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee
1 site in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A Phase 2/3 study testing Healing Touch in people with Breast Neoplasms, run by University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee at 1 site in United States.
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 4 inclusion and 1 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 21 Jan 2009. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
Where is the study taking place?
The record lists 1 site in United States. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. Some participants in this study may receive a placebo. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
What does this combined phase mean?
Phase 2 studies give the treatment to a larger group to see whether it has the intended effect and to keep checking safety.
Phase 3 studies compare the treatment with the current standard treatment or a placebo in a large group, to confirm how well it works and watch for side effects.
Not every study follows the same path, and some studies (observational studies, device studies) have no phase.
Are results available for this study?
The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
The primary outcome measure is the difference in the FACT-B total score from baseline, midpoint and end of study participation. (time frame: Measurement at study entrance, after 3 weeks and study exit (4, 5 or 6 weeks).). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 21 Jan 2009.