Exploring the Placebo Response in Cancer Survivors

A clinical trial at the University of Alabama will be enrolling patients in the first study of an open-label placebo in cancer. Cancer survivors with moderate-levels of cancer-related fatigue, who have completed treatments for at least 6 months, would be eligible to participate.

One group of participants will receive the placebo pill for 2 weeks and the second group will act as a control. The cohorts will trade places after a week-long washout period. Saliva samples from trial participants will be analyzed for potential biomarkers to identify genetic predisposition to a placebo response, if any.

The Program in Placebo Studies and the Therapeutic Encounter at Harvard University and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, run by Ted Kaptchuk, has done several open-label placebo studies in patients with irritable bowel syndrome, migraine, and depression.

Read more at newswise: http://bit.ly/1Lo2wZ4