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CompletedNCT02027948Updated Mar 8, 2022

A Nutritional Management Algorithm in Older Patients With Locally Advanced Esophageal Cancer

An interventional study of nutritional and functional assessments in Localized Stage I-III Esophageal Cancer and Gastroesophageal Junction Cancer, sponsored by Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Completed at 7 sites in United States. Open to participants aged 65 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2022-03-08.

Sponsored by Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center · Not applicable, Interventional, and Other

Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
26
Allocation
Not applicable
Ages
65 Years and older
Sex
All
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Study summary

Patients with esophageal and gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) cancer often have weight loss, swallowing problems, and poor appetite. This may affect their ability to tolerate cancer treatment.

The purpose of this study is to see if the researchers can apply a set of nutrition guidelines designed specifically for patients with cancer who are older than 65 years of age. The questions will allow them to assess the nutritional status and make appropriate referrals. If the patients are having swallowing problems or losing weight, the researchers want to address the nutritional problems early in the course of their treatment.

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Conditions studied

  • Localized Stage I-III Esophageal Cancer
  • Gastroesophageal Junction Cancer

Keywords

  • nutritional management algorithm
  • nutritional and functional assessments
  • 13-264
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In context

Esophageal Neoplasms

1,593 studies on the registry are indexed under Esophageal Neoplasms; 461 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 26 is below the median of 58 across 1,171 interventional studies indexed under Esophageal Neoplasms.

Browse Esophageal Neoplasms studies →

Lead sponsor

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center is the lead sponsor of 1,930 studies on the registry; 328 are open to participants now.

Of its 129 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 66 (51%) have results posted.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

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Who can participate

Ages eligible
65 Years and older
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

  • Patients must be ≥ age of 65; no maximum age limit.
  • Patients who will receive induction chemotherapy followed by combined chemoradiotherapy at MSKCC for localized stage I-III esophageal or gastroesophageal junction cancer.
  • Patients can receive chemoradiotherapy preoperatively prior to surgical resection or as definitive/primary chemoradiotherapy.
  • Patients can be KPS ≥60, as long as primary provider feels that patient is candidate for combined modality chemoradiotherapy
  • Be able to provide informed consent

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Enrolled on a phase I trial
  • Patients with a feeding tube previously placed.
  • Not English-speaking
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Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Other
Allocation
Not applicable
Intervention model
Single group
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
26 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    nutritional management

    The proposed study will be a prospective feasibility study of a nutritional management algorithm with risk-based guidelines in older adults (n=50) with newly diagnosed locally advanced esophageal cancer receiving preoperative or definitive chemoradiotherapy with an induction chemotherapy approach. Eligible patients must be age ≥ 65 years old. While all patients with esophageal cancer may benefit from this intervention, we wish to target the most vulnerable population (older patients who are at highest risk of malnutrition) in this pilot study.

    Other: nutritional and functional assessments

Interventions

  • Othernutritional and functional assessments

    Patients will undergo nutritional \& functional assessments along the continuum of their chemoradiotherapy treatment. The initial assessment will be measurements of height, weight, \& baseline weight loss. Patients will receive chemotherapy \& radiation as per standard practice at MSKCC, which is induction chemotherapy for approximately 3 weeks, followed by concurrent chemoradiotherapy. A commonly used regimen is weekly carboplatin (AUC 2) with paclitaxel (50 mg/m2) \& radiation consisting of 5040 cGy over 28 fractions. Patients in this study will undergo assessments at three time points (at baseline, after induction chemotherapy, \& post-treatment.) At baseline, all patients will complete the functional assessment, dysphagia scale, \& Mini- Nutritional Assessment (MNA). According to the baseline MNA score, patients will be categorized as "normal nutrition," "at risk for malnutrition," or "malnourished" \& receive the appropriate intervention.

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What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. feasibility of a nutritional management algorithm

    Various validated assessments of nutritional status have been described. Nutritional status can be evaluated using: 1) anthropometric measures (i.e. weight loss, body mass index (BMI), triceps skin fold thickness, arm circumference), 2) immunological measurements (i.e. absolute lymphocyte count), and 3) serum protein markers (i.e. albumin, prealbumin, transferrin, and retinol-binding protein)

    Time frame: 2 years

Secondary outcomes

  1. treatment toxicity of chemoradiotherapy

    Treatment toxicity of chemoradiotherapy will be summarized using descriptive statistics. Binomial proportions along with exact 95% confidence intervals will be estimated for proportions. Toxicity during the induction chemotherapy phase will be correlated with the baseline nutritional status (as determined by the MNA assessment) and baseline functional status using Fisher's exact test for categorical measures and Wilcoxon's rank sum test for numeric measures. Similarly, toxicity during chemoradiotherapy will be correlated with baseline MNA and functional status as well as with the malnutrition assessment using Fisher's exact test for categorical measures and Wilcoxon rank sum test for numeric measures.

    Time frame: 2 years

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Study locations

7 sites
  • Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center at Basking Ridge (Consent Only)
    Basking Ridge, New Jersey, United States
  • Memorial Sloan Kettering Monmouth (Consent Only)
    Middletown, New Jersey 07748, United States
  • Memorial Sloan Kettering Bergen (Consent only)
    Montvale, New Jersey 07645, United States
  • Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center @ Suffolk (Consent Only)
    Commack, New York 11725, United States
  • Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center at Commack (Consent Only)
    Commack, New York 11725, United States
  • Memorial Sloan Kettering West Harrison (Consent Only)
    Harrison, New York 10604, United States
  • Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
    New York, New York 10065, United States
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References and documents

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Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Mar 8, 2022, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
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Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT02027948
Lead sponsor
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Jan 6, 2014
Start date
Dec 23, 2013
Primary completion
Mar 1, 2022
Completion
Mar 1, 2022
Last update
Mar 8, 2022

Study contacts

Elizabeth Won, MD
principal investigator · Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is completed, as verified in Mar 2022. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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