Clinical Research Directory

Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation for Chemotherapy-Related Chronic Pain in Cancer Survivors

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) combined with a working-memory task can treat chronic pain and related emotional and cognitive problems after chemotherapy in adult cancer survivors. tDCS is a non-invasive and painless technique that uses a very weak electrical current, applied through two small electrodes on the head, to modulate the activity of certain brain areas. The main questions it aims to answer are: * Does tDCS reduce chronic pain intensity after chemotherapy in cancer survivors? * Does tDCS also reduce anxiety, depression, and cognitive problems, and improve the regulation of cortisol, a stress-related hormone? * Are the effects on pain, anxiety, depression, cognitive problems, and cortisol sustained when treatment continues with a maintenance phase of up to 2 months? Researchers will compare real tDCS to sham (placebo) tDCS, a look-alike procedure that does not deliver effective stimulation, to see if real tDCS works to reduce pain and improve these symptoms. Participants will: * Receive real or sham tDCS (assigned by chance) in 5 daily sessions over 1 week. Each session lasts 20 minutes: 10 minutes at rest and 10 minutes while doing a working-memory task * If they did not respond to sham tDCS, be offered 5 additional daily sessions of real tDCS * If they respond to treatment, continue with real tDCS twice a week for up to 2 months * Complete assessments of pain, mood, memory, attention, and quality of life before treatment, after each phase, and during and at the end of the maintenance phase * Collect saliva samples to measure cortisol