ClinicalTrials.gg
RecruitingNCT05441813Updated Jul 22, 2026

Coconut Oil to Prevent Mouth Sores in Pediatric Patients Receiving High Dose Chemotherapy

A Phase 2 interventional study of Virgin Coconut Oil in Oral Mucositis, sponsored by Wake Forest University Health Sciences. Recruiting at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 7 Years to 26 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-07-22.

Sponsored by Wake Forest University Health Sciences · Phase 2, Interventional, and Supportive care

From the registry’s dates

  • Started Feb 2023; still recruiting 3 years 8 months later.
Phase
Phase 2
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
60
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
7 Years to 26 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

The purpose of this study is to learn if virgin coconut oil (VCO) mouth rinse can help prevent oral mucositis. The Study Investigator will compare standard of care mucositis prevention rinses with the VCO mouth rinse added to the standard of care mucositis prevention rinses. The severity of oral mucositis between the 2 groups will be evaluated. Some of the standard of care rinses that can be used to prevent mucositis are normal saline, Benadryl (diphenhydramine), Mylanta, lidocaine, or other combinations.

Read the detailed description

This is a randomized, open-label study. The target population is patients ≥ 7 years to 26 years at time of consent who are planning to undergo myeloablative conditioning regimens in preparation HSCT. The study will be conducted at Levine Children's Hospital, Levine Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders Clinic and Atrium Health. Subjects will be screened and consented within 28 days prior to admission. The planned treatment period for Arm A (standard of care with the addition of VCO mouth rinses) or Arm B (standard of care) will begin at the start of subject's admission for conditioning, followed by transplant event with day of transplant defined as Day 0 and continue through Day +45 following transplant or hospital discharge, whichever comes first. A Safety Follow Up Visit will occur no sooner than 30 days from last study drug treatment

02

Conditions studied

  • Oral Mucositis

Browse trials for

Keywords

  • Prevention
  • Virgin Coconut Oil
  • Mouth Rinse
03

In context

Stomatitis

306 studies on the registry are indexed under Stomatitis; 75 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 60 is close to the median of 60 across 276 interventional studies indexed under Stomatitis.

Browse Stomatitis studies →

Lead sponsor

Wake Forest University Health Sciences is the lead sponsor of 1,351 studies on the registry; 201 are open to participants now.

Of its 332 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 251 (76%) have results posted.

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

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
7 Years to 26 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

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.

Inclusion criteria

Subject must meet all the following applicable inclusion criteria to participate in this study:

  1. Written , HIPAA authorization for release of personal health information, and assent, when applicable from the subject, parent, or legal guardian.
  2. Age greater than or equal to 7 years to 26 years at the time of consent
  3. Patients planning to undergo myeloablative conditioning regimens in preparation for
  4. Performance Status of less than or equal to 2 or Lansky/ Performance Status of greater than or equal to 50 within 7 days prior to date of enrollment.
  5. No evidence of mouth lesions at time of enrollment
  6. Ability of the subject and parent/caregiver to understand and comply with study procedures for the entire length of the study
  7. Able and willing to swish/spit the oral formulation

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

Subjects meeting any of the criteria below may not participate in the study:

  1. Allergy to tree nuts
  2. Planned discharge home prior to engraftment
  3. Using coconut oil mouth rinses within 30 days prior to enrollment
  4. Using additional mouthcare regimens, other than those allowed in the institutional SOP, prior to admission with a plan to continue use during admission
  5. Patient has undergone within the last 90 days prior to admission
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(4)

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.

Informed consent

Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.

You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.

Allogeneic and autologous transplant

Stem cell (bone marrow) transplants. Allogeneic uses cells from a donor; autologous uses your own cells, collected earlier and given back.

ECOG performance status

A scale of how much an illness limits everyday activity. For people being assessed to join a study, scores run from 0 (fully active) to 4; lower is more active.

0
Fully active, no restrictions.
1
Limited in strenuous activity, but walking and able to do light work, such as housework or office work.
2
Walking and able to look after yourself, but unable to work; up and about more than half of waking hours.
3
Able to look after yourself only in part; in bed or a chair more than half of waking hours.
4
Unable to look after yourself at all; in bed or a chair all day.

Studies most often ask for 0–1 or 0–2. Your doctor gives the score; the WHO scale uses the same steps. The full scale also has 5, which records death.

Karnofsky performance status (KPS)

A 0–100 scale of how well someone can carry out everyday activities. 100 is no complaints and no signs of illness; 70 is able to look after yourself but not to work or keep up normal activity; 50 is needing considerable help and frequent medical care.

Studies often ask for 60 or 70 and above. Your doctor gives the score.

05

Study design

Phase
Phase 2
Primary purpose
Supportive care
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
60 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Standard of care + virgin coconut oil

    Arm A: Standard of care + virgin coconut oil

    Drug: Virgin Coconut Oil

  • No intervention
    Standard of Care

    Arm B: Standard of care

Interventions

  • DrugVirgin Coconut Oil

    Standard of care with the addition of virgin coconut oil mouth rinse

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Severity of Mucositis

    Using Area Under the Curve (AUC) of the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) version 5.0 mucositis oral grading scale. This is a 5-point ordered-categorical scale ranging from 1 (asymptomatic or mild symptoms) to 5 (death). For subjects not experiencing oral mucositis, a severity grade of zero will be assigned.

    Time frame: Day 45

Secondary outcomes

  1. Average Daily Caloric Intake

    Oral intake will be calculated quantitatively for each subject during the on-treatment period.

    Time frame: Day 45

  2. Total Parenteral Nutrition (TPN)

    TPN or hyperalimentation will be calculated quantitatively for each subject as the proportion of days during the on-treatment period that aggressive nutrition support was utilized.

    Time frame: Day 45

  3. Opioid Use

    Daily opioid use will be calculated quantitatively for each subject in terms of their average Morphine Equivalent Daily Dose (MEDD)

    Time frame: Day 45

  4. Time to CTCAE Mucositis Grade > 2

    The duration of time (in days) from the initiation of study treatment until the day of the first occurrence of a CTCAE mucositis grade exceeding 2. The CTCAE mucositis grade is a 5-point ordered-categorical scale ranging from 1 (asymptomatic or mild symptoms) to 5 (death). For subjects who do not report a grade exceeding 2, time to CTCAE mucositis grade \>2 will be censored at the date of the last completed CTCAE evaluation.

    Time frame: Day 45

  5. Daily Incidence of Optional Mouth Rinses

    Proportion of days during the on-treatment period that optional oral rinse was used.

    Time frame: Day 45

  6. Incidence and type of oral viral infections

    Incidence and type of oral viral infections

    Time frame: Day 45

  7. Length of Hospitalization

    Length of stay will be calculated for each subject as the number of days from admission date to discharge date +1.

    Time frame: Day 45

  8. Days to Absolute Neutrophil Count (ANC) Engraftment

    Days to engraftment will be calculated for each subject as the number of days from Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation (HSCT) to ANC recovery per Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplantation Research (CIBMTR) definition

    Time frame: Day 45

Other outcomes

  1. Oral Rinse Utilization

    Reported as a percent of utilization

    Time frame: Day 45

07

Study locations

1 of 1 sites recruiting
  • Atrium Health Levine Children's Hospital
    Charlotte, North Carolina 28203, United States
    Recruiting
    • Courtney Huddle, DCN, RDN, CSPCC, LDN · Principal investigator
08

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

09

Timeline

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
ElapsedEstimatedEstimated, not yet reachedSimilar studies: half by the dot; the band is the middle halfHalf of similar studies reached it by the dot; the band is the middle half, from a quarter to three quarters

Started Feb 2023 (actual). Primary completion is estimated for Jul 2036, 161 months after the start.

Of 39 phase 2 interventional studies under Stomatitis, half reached primary completion within 35 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 10 and three quarters within 48. This study's planned 161 months is above that.

How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.

Registered
Jun 27, 2022
First posted
Jul 1, 2022
StartActual
Feb 15, 2023
Primary completionEst.
Jul 2036
CompletionEst.
Jul 2036
Last update
Jul 22, 2026
What these dates mean
Start.
When the first participant enrolled; while estimated, when the study expects to open to recruitment.
Primary completion.
When the last participant was examined or treated to collect data for the study's main question, its primary outcome. A study that stopped early gives the date its data collection stopped.
Completion.
When the last participant's last visit took place, for every outcome, secondary ones and side effects included: the end of the study. Often later than primary completion, sometimes the same day.
Actual and Est.
Actual means the registry says the date has happened. Est. (estimated) is a date the sponsor plans or expects. It can still move, and the sponsor is expected to change it to actual once it has passed.
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Jul 22, 2026, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT05441813
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Jul 1, 2022
Start date
Feb 15, 2023
Primary completion
Jul 2036 (estimated)
Completion
Jul 2036 (estimated)
Last update
Jul 22, 2026

Study contacts

Sceria Jenkins, RN
Contact
sceria.jenkins@advocatehealth.org
980-442-2323
Marithza Amaya
Contact
marirthza.amaya@advocatehealth.org
980-442-0530
Courtney Huddle, DCN, RDN, CSPCC, LDN
principal investigator · Wake Forest University Health Sciences

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
Yes
FDA-regulated drug
Yes
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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