Please sign in to follow a disease.
Can early speech therapy help cancer patients swallow and speak better after surgery?
NCT ID NCT06192771
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026
Summary
This study looks at whether starting speech and swallowing therapy early — before and just after surgery — can help people with head and neck cancer recover better. Forty patients will either get early therapy sessions with a speech-language pathologist or the usual care. The main goal is to see if a larger trial is possible, not yet to measure health benefits.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- early speech-language pathology sessions (behavioral intervention)
- What this could lead to
- If this approach works, it could lead to a standard early therapy program that helps patients recover swallowing and speech faster after surgery.
- What could go wrong
- This is a small feasibility study with only 40 people, so it cannot prove the therapy works. It is designed to see if a larger trial is possible, not to measure health outcomes.
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
-
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
-
About 40 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
-
Dec 2023
- Expected to finish
-
Dec 2026
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
-
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
-
18 years and older
- Sex
-
Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
-
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: * Newly diagnosed patients with at least T2 stage tongue SCC who are planned for partial glossectomy and free flap reconstruction and are anticipated to achieve a post-operative independent oral intake. * Proficient in spoken and written English Exclusion Criteria: * Patients who are planned for total glossectomy
Get updates
Get notified about this study
Sign up to get updates when this study changes or when new studies for Dysphagia are added.
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.
-
The places running it
1 site. The list below names each one and where it is.
-
The official record
ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.
-
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
-
University Health Network
RECRUITINGToronto, Ontario, M5G2C4, Canada
More trials for these conditions
Other studies related to the condition(s) this trial covers.
- Can a dental assistant keep cancer Patients' mouths healthier during radiation?
- Why do Non-Smokers get head and neck cancer? scientists probe tumor DNA
- Re-irradiation plus cetuximab targets head and neck tumors that return
- Sharper tumor maps: PET scans could tighten radiation beams
- Five days of radiation instead of weeks: a new test for head and neck cancer
- Can an online program ease the burden on cancer caregivers?