New MRI scan could predict jaw bone damage in cancer patients
NCT ID NCT03145077
First seen Jun 26, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026 · Updated 1 time
Summary
This study is testing whether a special type of MRI (called DCE-MRI) can predict jaw bone damage (osteoradionecrosis) in head and neck cancer patients who have had radiation therapy. Researchers will scan up to 1,400 participants before, during, and after radiation to see if changes in the jaw bone and soft tissue can be detected early. The goal is to find a way to identify patients at risk for this serious side effect before it happens.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- Dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI)
- What this could lead to
- If successful, this could help doctors predict and prevent jaw bone damage in head and neck cancer patients receiving radiation therapy.
- What could go wrong
- This is an observational study, not a treatment trial. It may not lead to a direct benefit for participants, and the MRI technique might not prove accurate enough for routine use.
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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 1,400 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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Mar 2017
- Expected to finish
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May 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: * Willing and able to provide informed consent * Patients must have histologic evidence of malignant neoplasm that may have been obtained from the primary tumor or metastatic lymph node * Receipt of external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) with curative intent, with or without concomitant chemotherapy * Good performance status (Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group \[ECOG\] score 0-2) * Willing to comply with all study procedures; and * Willing to participate for the duration of the study * COHORT 1 (LONGITUDINAL) GROUP 1 (PRE-RADIATION): Subjects who are currently undergoing or scheduled to undergo treatment with radiotherapy with or without chemotherapy (induction or concurrent) with intent to eradicate the malignancy. Treatment will include the following: 1) primary or nodal disease adjacent to (within 2 cm) the mandible (i.e., likely to receive a dose of at least 50 Gy to some portion of the mandible volumes) and 2) \> 60% probability of survival for 3 years after treatment * COHORT 1 (LONGITUDINAL) GROUP 2 (POST-RADIATION): Subjects who were previously treated with radiotherapy with or without chemotherapy (induction or concurrent). Treatment will have included the following: 1) unilateral maximum mandible dose of \>= 60 Gy and a gradient of dose across the mandible of \>= 20 Gy, 2) oncological cure and now in disease surveillance; and 3) no clinically diagnosed ORN at the time of enrollment * COHORT 2 (ENRICHED): Subjects with recurrent and/or new head and neck cancer disease who will undergo re-irradiation to the head and neck with intent to eradicate the malignancy. Treatment will include the following: 1) any mandible dose of at least 50 Gy cumulative (initial and subsequent treatment); and 2) no clinically diagnosed ORN at the time of enrollment * COHORT 3 (EARLY ORN INTERVENTION): Subjects with clinically confirmed low-grade/early stage osteoradionecrosis requiring therapeutic (medical and/or dental surgery) intervention as diagnosed by a qualified clinician. Clinical staging of developing or existing ORN will be conducted using the CTCAE 4.0 (Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events) * COHORT 4 (SURGICAL INTERVENTION FOR ADVANCED ORN): Subjects with clinically confirmed high grade/high stage osteoradionecrosis requiring surgical intervention. Clinical staging of ORN will be conducted using the CTCAE 4.0 (Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events) Exclusion Criteria: * Unable to tolerate diffusion weighted (DW)-MRI or DCE-MRI * Having an estimated glomerular filtration rate (GFR) \< 60 ml/min/1.73 m\^2 * Contraindication to MRI (e.g. non-MRI compatible metallic implants) * Pregnant females and cognitively impaired patients * Unable or unwilling to give written, informed consent to undergo MRI imaging * Claustrophobia * Unable to obtain imaging studies of adequate quality to assess imaging-based biomarkers * COHORT 1/GROUP 1: Previously treated with radiotherapy for a malignant neoplasm of the head and neck, excluding cutaneous lesions. Determination will be made by review of the radiation therapy plan and dosimetry map to evaluate mandible exposure to radiation * COHORT 1/GROUP 2: Previously treated with radiotherapy for a malignant neoplasm of the head and neck more than one time, excluding cutaneous lesions
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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.
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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M D Anderson Cancer Center
RECRUITINGHouston, Texas, 77030, United States
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?