New talk therapy aims to calm End-of-Life fears in advanced cancer patients
NCT ID NCT07312760
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026
Summary
This study tests a new short-term psychotherapy called ORPHYS, designed to help people with advanced cancer who feel hopeless, lonely, or fearful about the future. 160 patients will be randomly assigned to either ORPHYS or standard psychological support. The goal is to see if ORPHYS reduces demoralization and improves quality of life.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- short-term psychodynamic psychotherapy (ORPHYS)
- What this could lead to
- If it works, this could provide a new way to help advanced cancer patients cope with fear, hopelessness, and loneliness at the end of life.
- What could go wrong
- This is a relatively small, early-stage trial with 160 participants. The therapy may not prove more effective than standard support, and results may not apply to all cancer patients.
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 160 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
-
Oct 2025
- Expected to finish
-
Dec 2027
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: * UICC stage III/IV solid tumor or advanced hematological cancer * Physical condition at beginning of treatment sufficient for outpatient treatment * Existential distress due to at least one of the following concerns: loss of hope, demoralization, fear of the future, loneliness, death anxiety, sense of isolation, death wishes * Severity of distress: significant subjective distress and impairment in functioning Exclusion Criteria: * Acute suicidality with concrete or impending intent to follow through (suicide plan) * diagnosis of a substance dependence, substance abuse, or psychotic disorder (exception: tobacco-related disorders) * Inability to adhere to a psychotherapeutic setting * Other current psychotherapeutic or psycho-oncological treatment according to TAU definition * Insufficient German to give informed consent and complete self-report questionnaires
Get updates
Get notified about this study
Sign up to get updates when this study changes or when new studies for Advanced cancer, various, nos 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
3 sites. 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
-
Clinical Institute for Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center Düsseldorf
RECRUITINGDüsseldorf, 40225, Germany
-
Psychosomatics, Psychotherapy and Psychooncology, Medicine II, University of Würzburg
RECRUITINGWürzburg, 97080, Germany
-
University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf
RECRUITINGHamburg, 20246, Germany
More trials for these conditions
Other studies related to the condition(s) this trial covers.
- First-in-Human trial asks whether HG381 is safe and tolerable in advanced solid tumors
- Custom-Built immune cells take aim at a notorious cancer mutation
- Experimental injection SHR-7787 put to the test against advanced solid tumors
- Experimental biologic AWT020 put to the test in Hard-to-Treat cancers
- Can a pill shrink Hard-to-Treat ovarian tumors?
- Oral drug RVU120 put to the test against advanced solid tumors