Proton therapy offers new hope for head and neck cancer that returns
NCT ID NCT03217188
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026
Summary
This study tested proton therapy in 87 adults whose head and neck cancer came back after prior radiation. The goal was to see if this precise type of radiation can control the tumor while limiting side effects. Participants had cancer that could not be removed by surgery or chose not to have surgery.
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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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87 people
The number who actually took part.
- Started
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Jul 2017
- Finished
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Mar 2026
- 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: * Patient willing and able to provide written informed consent * Age ≥18 years at the time of consent * Pathologically confirmed diagnosis of a recurrent or a new primary head and neck cancer * A history of prior radiation to the head and neck (\>/= 40 Gy, in 2 Gy/fraction equivalent) * The recurrent or the second primary tumor is unresectable, the patient elects against surgical resection; patients who underwent surgery who has indications for postoperative radiation therapy is also eligible * Men and women of childbearing potential must be willing to consent to using effective contraception while on treatment and for at least 3 months after treatment Note: Patient with \<6 months of life expectancy will be treated with palliative QUAD shot radiotherapy and those with \> 6 months of life expectancy will be treated with conventionally fractionated full dose re-irradiation approach. Additional other factors determining which patients will be treated with Quad Shot therapy rather than full dose are if the patients have poor performance status, bulky or diffuse disease, significant medical co-morbidities, and significant metastatic disease burden. Exclusion Criteria: * Women who are pregnant or lactating * Inability to comply with study and/or follow-up procedures * \<6 months between completion of prior RT and initiation of reirradiation using proton therapy
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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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Baptist Alliance MCI
Miami, Florida, 33143, United States
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Memorial Sloan Kettering Basking Ridge
Basking Ridge, New Jersey, 07920, United States
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Memorial Sloan Kettering Bergen
Montvale, New Jersey, 07645, United States
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Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
New York, New York, 10065, United States
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Memorial Sloan Kettering Commack
Commack, New York, 11725, United States
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Memorial Sloan Kettering Monmouth
Middletown, New Jersey, 07748, United States
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Memorial Sloan Kettering Nassau
Uniondale, New York, 11553, United States
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Memorial Sloan Kettering Rockville Centre
Rockville Centre, New York, 11570, United States
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Memorial Sloan Kettering Westchester
Harrison, New York, 10604, United States
More trials for these conditions
Other studies related to the condition(s) this trial covers.
- Experimental pill HG146 put to the test against rare head and neck cancer
- 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