NCT07187219

Efficacy of Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Over the Primary Cortex in Patients With Neuropathic Pain and Cancer

Efficacy of Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Over the Primary Cortex in Patients With Neuropathic Pain and Cancer: Cross-over and Placebo-control Study

• Status: Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 60 (estimated)
• Sponsor: Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Saint Etienne · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years – 85 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

High-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) of the primary motor cortex (M1) has shown its efficacy to alleviate pain in patients suffering from refractory neuropathic pain. rTMS is now considered as 3rd-line therapy (by the French Society for the Study and Treatment of Pain) for patient's refractory to drug therapy. However, its efficacy in chronic neuropathic pain related to cancer has not yet been specifically studied, and it therefore remains relatively inaccessible for these patients. This project is a cross-over, double-blinded, and placebo-control study, including 5 sessions of either M1 or "sham" rTMS, a wash-out period (8 weeks), followed by 5 sessions of the other stimulation option (I.e., two arms: M1-sham or sham-M1; order randomized between patients). Treatment efficacy will be assessed in comparison to the placebo condition. Primary outcome is the percentage of pain relief between active and sham rTMS. Other variables to describe quality of life, sensory, neuropathic, and mood states as well as resting-state fMRI will be collected before and after treatment.

Conditions

• Cancer
• Chronic Neuropathic Pain

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
DEVICE	Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) - active	rTMS session active on the primary motor cortex
DEVICE	Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) - inactive	rTMS session inactive on the primary motor cortex

Timeline

• Start date: 2025-06-13
• Primary completion: 2028-11-01
• Completion: 2029-05-01
• First posted: 2025-09-22
• Last updated: 2025-09-22

Locations

1 site across 1 country: France