Virtual reality could ease stress for children facing cancer radiation
NCT ID NCT04934293
First seen Jun 24, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026 · Updated 1 time
Summary
This study tests whether using virtual reality before proton therapy sessions can reduce stress and improve positioning in children aged 7 to 18 with cancer. Researchers will compare positioning time and anxiety levels when kids use VR versus standard care. The goal is to find a simple, non-medicinal way to make treatment less frightening and more efficient.
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
- What this could lead to
- If it works, this could offer a simple, drug-free way to help children feel calmer and cooperate better during radiotherapy.
- What could go wrong
- This is a small pilot study with only 47 participants, so results may not apply to all children. The virtual reality headset might not be tolerated or may not reduce anxiety as hoped.
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 47 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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Aug 2021
- Expected to finish
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Feb 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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7 to 18 years
- 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: * Patient treated at the Antoine LACASSAGNE Center for treatment by proton therapy * Age ≥ 7 years old and ≤ 18 years old * Patient, and parents for minor children, having read the information notice and signed the informed consent, * Patient with social security coverage. Exclusion Criteria: * Age \< 7 years old and \> 18 years old, * Patient under general anesthesia, * Patient suffering from wounds or infections in the head, deemed incompatible with the use of the helmet by the investigator, * Patient suffering from respiratory problems, * Patient suffering from a high level of claustrophobia, * Patient followed for a psychiatric pathology, * Patient suffering from unbalanced epilepsy, * Patient suffering from visual (binocular vision) and / or hearing disorders preventing the use of virtual reality, * Patient whose head circumference is insufficient for the use of the helmet, deemed incompatible with the use of the helmet by the investigator, * Patient treated by radio chemotherapy.
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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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Centre Antoine Lacassagne
RECRUITINGNice, France
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