VR headsets tested as a drug-free mood booster for cancer patients
NCT ID NCT06985784
First seen Jun 26, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026 · Updated 1 time
Summary
This study tests whether using a 3D mindfulness virtual reality headset can improve depression, anxiety, pain, and stress in head and neck cancer patients undergoing radiation or chemoradiation. Forty patients will be randomly assigned to either a 3D VR or a 2D non-immersive experience. The main goal is to see if patients find the VR acceptable and easy to use, not yet to prove it works.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- Virtual reality (3D mindfulness VR headset vs 2D non-immersive VR)
- What this could lead to
- If it works, this could offer a drug-free way to help cancer patients manage depression, anxiety, and pain during treatment.
- What could go wrong
- This is a very small, early feasibility study with only 40 participants. It is testing whether patients will use VR, not yet whether it truly improves symptoms. Results may not apply to all 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
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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 40 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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Jun 2025
- Expected to finish
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Nov 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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Accepted
You do not need to have the condition being studied to take part.
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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: * PATIENTS: Documented informed consent of the participant and/or legally authorized representative * Assent, when appropriate, will be obtained per institutional guidelines * PATIENTS: ≥ 18 years * PATIENTS: Self-reported normal or corrected to normal vision and hearing * PATIENTS: Ambulatory (permitted to use walking aids such as cane or crutch) * PATIENTS: Ability to read and understand English for questionnaires * PATIENTS: Scheduled to undergo C/RT for their HNC * CAREGIVERS: Documented informed consent of the participant and/or legally authorized representative * Assent, when appropriate, will be obtained per institutional guidelines * CAREGIVERS: ≥ 18 years * CAREGIVERS: Self-reported normal or corrected to normal vision and hearing * CAREGIVERS: Ability to read and understand English for questionnaires * CAREGIVERS: A care giver identified by the patient and defined as a person who knows the patient well and is involved in the patient's medical care Exclusion Criteria: * PATIENTS: An employee who is under the direct/ indirect supervision of the principal investigator (PI)/ a co-investigator/ the study manager * PATIENTS: A direct study team member * PATIENTS: Inability to complete the surveys * PATIENTS: Serious mental illness * PATIENTS: Previous head and neck cancer treatment * PATIENTS: History of any psychiatric disease treatment with anti-depressants, substance abuse, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), chronic pain (\> 3 months) * PATIENTS: Cancer in or around the eyes or ears; visual, hearing or cognitive impairment * CAREGIVERS: An employee who is under the direct/ indirect supervision of the PI/ a co-investigator/ the study manager * CAREGIVERS: A direct study team member * CAREGIVERS: Inability to complete the surveys * CAREGIVERS: Serious mental illness * CAREGIVERS: History of any psychiatric disease treatment with anti-depressants, substance abuse, PTSD
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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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City of Hope Medical Center
RECRUITINGDuarte, California, 91010, 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?