Virtual reality headsets may calm cancer patients before radiation
NCT ID NCT07754864
First seen Aug 10, 2026 · Last updated Aug 11, 2026 · Updated 1 time
Summary
This trial tests whether a virtual reality (VR) educational video can reduce anxiety and improve satisfaction in adults starting their first course of external beam radiotherapy for cancer. Half of the 122 participants will watch a VR video through a headset before treatment, while the other half receives standard education. Researchers will compare anxiety levels, treatment experience, and satisfaction between the two groups to see if VR offers a better way to prepare patients.
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-based educational video delivered via immersive headsets
- What this could lead to
- If effective, VR-based education could become a standard tool to ease anxiety and improve the treatment experience for cancer patients starting radiotherapy, especially in settings lacking standardized education protocols.
- What could go wrong
- This is a relatively small trial (122 participants) and the outcome depends on patient engagement with the VR technology. Results may not generalize to all cancer types or settings, and some patients might find VR uncomfortable.
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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 122 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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Feb 2026
- Expected to finish
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Aug 2026
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
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A government agency
The lead sponsor is a government body.
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.
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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: * Adult patients aged 18 years or above * Willing to participate * Provide informed consent * Scheduled for their first external beam radiotherapy treatment Exclusion Criteria: * Pediatric cancer patients * Scheduled for head \& neck external beam radiotherapy * Previously underwent radiotherapy treatment * Have severe visual or hearing difficulties * Require emergency radiotherapy treatment * Have a history of psychiatric illness * Require ICU admission * Experience severe motion sickness or vertigo * Unable to tolerate the VR headset
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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
The full official record for this study. This one lists no contact details, but it is the first place any would appear.
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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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Ministry of Health, Royal Hospital
Muscat, Muḩāfaz̧at Masqaţ, 111, Oman
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