An interventional study of Quality of Life Survey and Health Management Surveys in Head and Neck Cancer, sponsored by M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. Active, not recruiting at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-11-10.
Sponsored by M.D. Anderson Cancer Center · Not applicable, Interventional, and Prevention
The goal of this research study is to learn if home-use of devices to identify dehydration risk, when added to standard care, will help to lower hospitalizations and emergency room visits (and related costs) in patients with head and neck cancer.
CYCORE is a software-based system that enables comprehensive collection, storage and analysis of information related to cancer research and clinical care. In this study, those in the CYCORE group use devices at home to measure their dehydration risk. This information is monitored by their clinicians. Those in the standard care group complete health based surveys, as do those in the CYCORE group.
Abstract:
While head and neck cancer (HNC) is highly curable, primary radiation treatment (RT) is nonetheless challenging. Despite intensive, high-quality, multidisciplinary symptom management of HNC patients during RT, up to 80% of these patients experience moderate to severe levels of oral mucositis making it nearly impossible to drink sufficient fluids and necessitating opioid care for pain. Our data show that 27 - 32% of HNC patients are admitted to inpatient or emergency room (ER) units during RT. Those admissions related to dehydration (and the accompanying costs) are largely preventable, provided at-risk patients can be identified early for intravenous fluid rehydration. Currently, given standard of care for HNC patients undergoing RT, clinicians assess patients only once per week during standard clinic visits. However, the physiological changes underlying the onset of dehydration can develop rapidly, often between clinic visits. In the proposed project, we focus on this missed opportunity for prevention by testing the efficacy of a novel method for home-based dehydration assessment and early intervention to reduce dehydration risk.
This project assesses the efficacy of a coordinated dehydration prevention program using a system (CYCORE) that links home-based monitoring sensors--that collect biometric and self-reported symptom data--to a cyber-infrastructure (CI) and sends these data daily to the patient's healthcare team, who in turn monitor the patients for early signs of dehydration and provide earlier clinical intervention, when needed. The project is based on our successful pilot study that evaluated the feasibility of CYCORE use in HNC patients and with their radiology healthcare team. The patients reported high acceptability of the system, while clinicians perceived the data as valuable and useful in providing additional information regarding patient's at-home dehydration status. We will randomize a total of 192 HNC patients receiving RT at MD Anderson Cancer Center (MDACC) to either standard care or CYCORE + standard care (CYCORE). We hypothesize that patients randomized to CYCORE will experience fewer hospitalizations and ER admissions (and fewer associated costs) due to dehydration compared with patients in the standard care arm.
To the best of our knowledge, the application of a system such as CYCORE has not been explored in the HNC population. Objective, home-based monitoring may be an optimal method of capturing data critical to early evaluation of dehydration risk; other methods, such as patient self-report, are limited by the patient's ability to accurately recall symptoms. MDACC is an ideal environment for conducting the proposed study; more HNC patients are treated with RT at MDACC compared with any other center in Texas, and it is possible to track outcomes and cost-related data, given the HNC patients receive all of their RT-related care, including related hospitalization and ER admissions, at one center. If our efficacy study proves successful, this dehydration prevention model can potentially be applied to other health conditions and in other settings.
2,710 studies on the registry are indexed under Head and Neck Neoplasms; 594 are open to participants now.
This study's enrollment of 427 is above the median of 46 across 2,032 interventional studies indexed under Head and Neck Neoplasms.
Browse Head and Neck Neoplasms studies →M.D. Anderson Cancer Center is the lead sponsor of 3,047 studies on the registry; 578 are open to participants now.
Of its 612 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 409 (67%) have results posted.
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Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.
Exclusion Criteria:
Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Cancer that has spread from where it began to other parts of the body. “Metastatic” cancer is cancer that has spread this way.
Metastases
Cancer that has spread from where it began to other parts of the body. “Metastatic” cancer is cancer that has spread this way.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Surveys administered in person or by telephone interview and are audio-recorded.
Behavioral: Quality of Life Survey · Behavioral: Health Management Surveys · Behavioral: Symptoms Surveys
Home use of CYCORE devices (blood pressure monitor, weight scale, electronic tablet, palm-sized plug-in computer). Surveys administered in person or by telephone interview and are audio-recorded.
Behavioral: Quality of Life Survey · Behavioral: Health Management Surveys · Other: Monitoring Devices · Behavioral: Symptoms Surveys · Behavioral: Device Usability Survey
Quality of life survey completed at baseline, 7 days after radiation therapy (RT) and at 6 - 8 weeks after RT.
Also known as: Survey
Confidence in health management survey; completed at baseline and 6 - 8 weeks after RT.
Also known as: Questionnaires
Home use of CYCORE devices (blood pressure monitor, weight scale, electronic tablet, palm-sized plug-in computer)
Behavioral: Symptoms survey 1; completed at weeks 1, 3, 5, and 7 days after RT, and at 6 - 8 weeks after RT. Behaviorial: Symptoms survey 2; completed at baseline, weeks 1, 3, 5, and 7 days after RT, and at 6 - 8 weeks after RT.
Device usability survey; completed at weeks 1, 3, 5, and 7 days after RT.
Also known as: Questionnaire
Comparison Between the Two Groups of the Number of Hospitalizations and ER Visits Due to Dehydration
Primary outcome is proportion of patients who experience ER visits and/or hospitalizations related to dehydration (ERV) combined with ER visits resulting in hospitalization through the 6-7 weeks of RT. Primary analysis is comparison of proportion of patients in CYCORE group who have an ERV or ERHV and proportion of patients in the standard care group who have an ERV or ERHV. Analysis consists of a binomial test of two proportions using a continuity-corrected chi-square test. Analyses will follow the intention-to-treat principle, that is a patient in either arm who drops out is assumed to have an ERV and/or ERHV. For comparison purposes, data will be analyzed only using patients who have completed the study.
Time frame: 12 - 15 weeks
From the registry record's own update history. This site started tracking changes on Sep 25, 2026; for anything earlier, see the record history on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
This study is active, not recruiting, as verified in Nov 2026. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
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