The effect of distance reiki on patient reported quality of life, correlated with changes in immune repertoires among patients with multiple myeloma: A pilot study.
Authors: Nyamao Tiffany , Warsame Rahma M. , Hwa Lisa , Fonder Amie L. , Hobbs Miriam A. , McCarty Tammy , Aug Sarah , Burtis Michelle , Dooley Katharine , Lacy Martha , Cook Joselle , Dispenzieri Angela 
Published: June 2024

e23199

Background: Psychological distress and diminished health related quality of life (HRQOL) is associated with multiple myeloma (MM). Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is an adjunct to traditional medicine. T-cells are essential to the adaptive immune system. The complementarity determining region (CDR3) of the T cell receptor formed by combination of the V,D,J regions is highly variable and critical for antigen specificity. PCR is used to analyze the TCR-CDR3 to monitor T-cell clonotypes as a measure of antigen specific T cell responses and thereby cancer immunity. Reiki is a Japanese energy healing technique involving noninvasive light touch to modulate energy fields. The primary aim was feasibility and acceptability of Reiki within a structured medical paradigm. Secondary aims were changes in HRQOL and T-cell receptor repertoires with Reiki. Methods: Adult MM patients (pts) on a stable regimen were eligible. Pts randomized in a 1:1:1 to weekly True Reiki (Treiki), Simulated Reiki (Sreiki) or no intervention (NI). The PROMIS-29® assessed HRQOL. A “Was it Worth it” (WIWI) questionnaire was administered post intervention to assess the experience. TCR-CDR3 sequencing was performed on PBMCs at enrollment and end of therapy to determine immune repertoire changes. Samples underwent library preparation and next generation sequencing for TCR repertoire analysis by iRepertoire® Results: Thirty pts were randomized into 3 arms between 12/2020 to 4/2022. Median age 62.5 (range 27-76), 18/30 (60%) female, median time to diagnosis was 48 mo (Range 7-221), 50% had high risk FISH,(90%) had prior ASCT and received median 2 (range 1-13) lines of therapy prior to enrollment. No pts relapsed or progressed during study period. Using WIWI 100% of pts in Treiki and 75% in Sreiki arms found the therapy useful and would do it again; 100% Treiki pts and 87.5% in the Sreiki arm would recommend the study to others. No statistical difference between groups in any HRQOL domains. Among TCR repertoires, no statistically significant difference was observed between groups with respect to Richness, Shannon entropy, Clonality, Diversity 50 (D50) and Inverse Simpson indexes. Each pt showed substantial variability in certain TCR-CDR3 clones and clonal diversity. Conclusions: We successfully demonstrated acceptability and feasibility of Reiki among MM pts, although no impact on HRQOL was shown. Reiki intervention is an easy non-invasive additional option for pts’ to their conventional therapies. The TCR-CDR3 repertoires showed no difference with the reiki intervention but had significant variability. Further research comparing TCR repertoires between MM and age/sex matched healthy controls is ongoing. T-cell directed therapies are evolving in MM, we plan to analyze if changing diversity of TCR-CDR3 repertoires could define how best to sequence these treatments. Clinical trial information: NCT04783038 .