Can a simple cough exercise restore strength after head and neck cancer?
NCT ID NCT07756684
First seen Aug 11, 2026 · Last updated Aug 12, 2026 · Updated 1 time
Summary
This study tests whether a cough skill training program can help people with head and neck cancer cough more effectively. Participants practice voluntary coughs using a handheld device during sessions and at home. The goal is to see if the training is feasible and if it improves cough strength, which may help prevent food or liquid from entering the airway.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- Cough skill training using a handheld cough device
- What this could lead to
- If successful, this approach could offer a new way to help head and neck cancer survivors cough more effectively, reducing the risk of choking or aspiration.
- What could go wrong
- This is a very small early feasibility study with only 10 participants, so results may not apply broadly. The training may not improve cough strength, and the device may be hard to use.
This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.
Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Not a phased trial
Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.
- Participants
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About 10 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Expected to start
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Oct 2026
An estimate. Start dates often move.
- Expected to finish
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Sep 2027
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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18 years and older
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Not accepted
This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: * Prior diagnosis of head and neck cancer at least 6 months post-diagnosis * Completed treatment for head and neck cancer, including surgery, radiation, or chemotherapy * Medically stable and able to follow commands and produce a voluntary cough * English speaking Exclusion Criteria: * Unable to provide informed consent assessed by a Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) score of \<20 * Unable to follow study instructions * Unable to produce a voluntary cough * History of neurologic disease * Recent laryngeal surgery or vocal fold injury * Active respiratory infection or febrile illness within the past 14 days * Chronic, severe, or unstable respiratory disease * Asthma or bronchitis * Smoking within the past five years * Uncontrolled hypertension * Recent myocardial infarction, unstable angina, stroke, or hospitalization for heart failure within the past 6 months * Significant uncontrolled arrhythmia
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Genom att skicka in godkänner du våra Användarvillkor
Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
How to take part
Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.
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The places running it
1 site. The list below names each one and where it is.
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The official record
ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.
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A doctor treating you
A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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Airway Protection Research Lab at Boston University
Boston, Massachusetts, 02215, United States
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