MRI tailors radiation to throat cancer, aims to spare swallowing
NCT ID NCT03224000
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026
Summary
This study tests whether using MRI scans to plan radiation doses can control HPV-positive throat cancer as well as standard treatment, while reducing severe swallowing side effects. About 90 adults with early-stage cancer will receive radiation doses adjusted based on MRI images. The goal is to maintain cancer control and improve quality of life.
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Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Phase 2
Tests whether the treatment actually works, and watches for side effects, in a larger group.
- Participants
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90 people
The number who actually took part.
- Started
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Jan 2018
- Expected to finish
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Dec 2026
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.
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Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: * Biopsy proven diagnosis of squamous cell carcinoma of the oropharynx (tonsil, base of tongue, soft palate, or oropharyngeal walls). Clinical evidence should be documented, and may consist of imaging, endoscopic evaluation, palpation, and should be sufficient to estimate the size of the primary for purposes of T staging. * Age ≥18 years * Clinical stage T1-3, N0-2 (AJCC, 8th ed.), with no distant metastases, based on routine staging workup. * Positive for HPV by p16 IHC or ISH * Lifetime pack-year history of \<10 years, currently non-smoking for at least 5 years. * No head and neck surgery of the primary tumor or lymph nodes except for incisional or excisional biopsies. * No retropharyngeal nor level IV (or lower) lymphadenopathy (i.e. nodes in level I-III only) * Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) = 0, 1, or 2. * Dispositioned to photon/proton radiotherapy +/- chemotherapy * For females of child-bearing age, a negative pregnancy test Exclusion Criteria: * Patients who have undergone definitive resection of their primary or nodal disease as well as any chemotherapy or radiation therapy for their HNSCC. * Pregnant or breast-feeding females * Clinically significant uncontrolled major cardiac, respiratory, renal, hepatic, gastrointestinal or hematologic disease but not limited to: * Symptomatic congestive heart failure, unstable angina, or cardiac dysrhythmia not controlled by pacer device * Myocardial infarction within 3 months of registration * Contraindications to MR imaging (e.g. implanted metallic prostheses, defibrillators, stimulators, pacemakers, or neurotransmitters) per institutional policy on management of patients with internal and external medical devices. * History of claustrophobia * Having an estimated glomerular filtration rate (GFR) \< 40ml/min/1.73m2
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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.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
Houston, Texas, 77030, United States
More trials for these conditions
Other studies related to the condition(s) this trial covers.
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