ClinicalTrials.gg
RecruitingNCT06840704ReliefUpdated Apr 2, 2026

Immunonutrition Reduces Acute Esophagitis After Thoracic Radiotherapy in Lung Cancer

A Phase 3 interventional study of Oral immunonutrition in Non Small Cell Lung Cancer and Small Cell Lung Cancer, sponsored by Hunan Cancer Hospital. Recruiting at 6 sites in China. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-04-02.

Sponsored by Hunan Cancer Hospital · Phase 3, Interventional, and Supportive care

From the registry’s dates

  • Primary completion was expected by Jun 2026, 4 months ago, but the record still lists the study as recruiting.
  • Started Feb 2025; still recruiting 1 year 8 months later.
Phase
Phase 3
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
121
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

This study aims to evaluate the efficacy of immunonutrition in reducing acute esophagitis after thoracic radiotherapy in lung cancer.

Read the detailed description

This is a prospective, randomized, controlled, open-label clinical trial, which aimed to explore the efficacy and safety of oral immunonutrition therapy in reducing acute esophagitis after thoracic radiotherapy in lung cancer patients.

02

Conditions studied

  • Non Small Cell Lung Cancer
  • Small Cell Lung Cancer

Keywords

  • non-small cell lung cancer
  • small cell lung cancer
  • esophagitis
  • immunonutrition
  • radiotherapy
03

In context

Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung

7,620 studies on the registry are indexed under Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung; 1,838 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 121 is above the median of 62 across 6,019 interventional studies indexed under Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung.

Browse Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung studies →

Lead sponsor

Hunan Cancer Hospital is the lead sponsor of 56 studies on the registry; 29 are open to participants now.

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

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years and older
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

  1. The subject voluntarily participates in this clinical study, understands the study procedures, and is able to provide written .
  2. Age ≥ 18 years.
  3. confirmed diagnosis of lung cancer, including non-small cell lung cancer and small cell lung cancer.
  4. Indication for thoracic radiotherapy, with the esophagus within 1 cm of the PTV.
  5. Prescription dose for the PTV: 60-70 Gy once daily (2 Gy/Fx), 45 Gy twice daily (1.5 Gy/Fx, with intervals exceeding 6 hours), or 45 Gy once daily (3 Gy/Fx).
  6. Ability to orally intake food normally.
  7. (ECOG) performance status score of 0-1.
  8. The volume of both lungs receiving more than 20 Gy (V20) should not exceed 30% of the total lung volume.
  9. Expected survival of more than 3 months.
  10. Laboratory test results during the screening period:

    Complete blood count: ≥ 1.5 × 10\^9/L; ≥ 80 × 10\^9/L; ≥ 90 g/L. Blood biochemistry: ≤ 1.5 × ; and AST ≤ 2 × ULN; BUN and Cr ≤ 1.5 × ULN, with ≥ 50 mL/min (calculated using the Cockcroft-Gault formula).

  11. Female subjects of , male subjects, and partners of male subjects agree to use reliable methods during the study period (such as abstinence, sterilization, oral contraceptives, or other contraceptive measures).

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Previous history of thoracic radiotherapy.
  2. Suspected or confirmed tumor invasion of the esophagus.
  3. Patients with other primary tumors.
  4. History of esophageal cancer, gastric cancer, or prior esophageal surgery.
  5. Concurrent active reflux esophagitis.
  6. Current regular use of immunonutrition (e.g., Oral Impact®).
  7. Patients with severe cardiovascular or cerebrovascular diseases, or comorbidities such as liver or kidney diseases.
  8. Female subjects who are pregnant, breastfeeding, or planning to become pregnant during the study period.
  9. Concurrent active diseases requiring treatment.
  10. Known history of (HIV) positivity or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS).
  11. Any medical (e.g., pulmonary, metabolic, endocrine, or neurological diseases, congenital disorders, etc.), psychiatric, or social condition that, in the investigator's judgment, may interfere with the subject's rights, safety, health, or ability to provide , cooperate and participate in the study, or interfere with the evaluation of the study drug, interpretation of patient safety, or study results.
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(14)

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.

Histologically or cytologically confirmed

The diagnosis was confirmed by looking at a sample under a microscope: tissue from a biopsy or surgery (histology), or cells from a fluid or needle sample (cytology).

Your pathology report is the document that shows this.

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.

Absolute neutrophil count (ANC)

The number of neutrophils, white blood cells that help fight infection, in a given amount of blood. Too few raises the risk of infection.

It is a count, not a percentage of the white cells. Limits are written in units that mean the same: ≥ 1.5 × 10⁹/L is ≥ 1,500 per mm³ (µL). Each lab has its own reference range.

Platelets

Blood cells that help blood clot. Too few raises the risk of bleeding and bruising. A usual adult range is about 150–400 × 10⁹/L (150,000–400,000 per µL); each lab has its own reference range.

Hemoglobin (Hb)

The protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen. A low level is anaemia, which can cause tiredness and breathlessness. Measured in g/dL or g/L (9 g/dL is 90 g/L).

Bilirubin

A yellow substance made when red blood cells are broken down, which the liver clears. A high level can mean a problem with the liver or the bile ducts.

Criteria often allow more for people with Gilbert’s syndrome, a harmless inherited condition that raises bilirubin.

ULN (upper limit of normal)

The top of the normal range for a blood test, as set by the laboratory that runs it. Each lab prints its own range next to your result.

“≤ 2.5 × ULN” means the result can be up to two and a half times that top value.

ALT and AST (liver enzymes)

Two enzymes measured in a routine blood test of the liver. Higher levels can mean the liver is under strain or damaged. SGPT and SGOT are older names for ALT and AST.

Criteria usually give a limit as a multiple of the upper limit of normal (ULN), often higher when cancer has spread to the liver.

Creatinine clearance (CrCl)

How quickly the kidneys clear creatinine, a waste product, from the blood. A study may estimate it from a blood test with age, weight and sex (often by the Cockcroft–Gault formula), or measure it using blood and urine collected over a set time. Given in mL/min; higher is better.

Childbearing potential

Able to become pregnant: from the first period until menopause, unless permanently unable to through surgery (removal of the womb, or of both ovaries or both fallopian tubes).

Criteria for people of childbearing potential usually ask for a negative pregnancy test and for contraception during the study and for a time after it.

Contraception

Ways of preventing pregnancy. “Highly effective” methods fail less than 1% of the time a year when used correctly — for example an IUD or an implant.

Criteria usually say which methods count and how long to keep using them after the last dose, sometimes for male participants too. Some studies accept a partner’s vasectomy if it was confirmed successful and that person is the participant’s only sexual partner.

Autoimmune disease

A condition in which the immune system attacks the body’s own tissues, such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, psoriasis, type 1 diabetes or inflammatory bowel disease.

Immunotherapy studies often leave out active autoimmune disease, and some name exceptions, such as thyroid disease on replacement hormone. Check the exceptions this study lists.

HIV

The human immunodeficiency virus, which weakens the immune system.

Many studies now accept people whose HIV is controlled on treatment, judged by the viral load and the CD4 count. Check the limits this study sets.

05

Study design

Phase
Phase 3
Primary purpose
Supportive care
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
121 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Oral immunonutrition

    Oral immunonutrition (Oral Impact®, Nestlé), 250 ml per bottle, with a dosage of 2 bottles per day, starting on the day of radiotherapy and continuing for three weeks after radiotherapy.

    Dietary Supplement: Oral immunonutrition

  • No intervention
    Standard nutrition

    If the patient has concurrent nutritional risks, routine nutritional therapy (no immunonutrition) can be provided under the guidance of a nutritionist.

Interventions

  • Dietary supplementOral immunonutrition

    Oral immunonutrition (Oral Impact®, Nestlé), 250 ml per bottle, with a dosage of 2 bottles per day, starting on the day of radiotherapy and continuing for three weeks after radiotherapy.

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Incidence rate of grade 2 or higher acute esophagitis

    Assessed according to National Cancer Institute's Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (NCI-CTCAE) version 5.0.

    Time frame: 3 months

Secondary outcomes

  1. Incidence rate of grade 2 or higher acute esophagitis

    Assessed according to RTOG toxicity criteria.

    Time frame: 3 months

  2. Incidence rate of grade 3 or higher acute esophagitis assessed according to NCI-CTCAE v5.0 criteria

    Assessed according to NCI-CTCAE v5.0 criteria

    Time frame: 3 months

  3. Incidence rate of grade 3 or higher acute esophagitis assessed according to RTOG toxicity criteria

    Assessed according to RTOG toxicity criteria

    Time frame: 3 months

  4. Nutritional Assessment according to the Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment(PG-SGA)

    PG-SGA scores range from 0 to 35, with higher scores indicating a greater risk of severe malnutrition.

    Time frame: 3 months

  5. Body weight

    Time frame: 3 months

  6. Nutritional Risk

    Assessed according to Nutritional Risk Screening 2002 (NRS 2002)

    Time frame: 3 months

  7. The duration period of esophagitis

    The number of days of grade 2 or higher esophagitis

    Time frame: 3 months

  8. Opioid use

    Measured by documented opioid use

    Time frame: 3 months

  9. Quality of life assessed by EORTC QLQ-C30

    EORTC QLQ-C30 scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating a better quality of life.

    Time frame: 3 months

  10. Quality of life assessed by FACT-L

    FACT-L scores range from 0 to 108, with higher scores indicating a better quality of life.

    Time frame: 3 months

  11. Quality of life assessed by FACT-E Eating and Swallowing Subscales

    FACT-E Eating and Swallowing Subscales scores range from 0 to 68, with higher scores indicating a better quality of life.

    Time frame: 3 months

07

Study locations

6 of 6 sites recruiting
08

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: Undecided — Hospital policy

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

09

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Apr 2, 2026, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT06840704
Lead sponsor
Hunan Cancer Hospital
Responsible party
HuaiLiu (Prof., Hunan Cancer Hospital) — Principal investigator
First posted
Feb 21, 2025
Start date
Feb 25, 2025
Primary completion
Jun 30, 2026 (estimated)
Completion
Dec 30, 2026 (estimated)
Last update
Apr 2, 2026

Study contacts

Huai Liu, M.D.
Contact
liuhuai@hnca.org.cn
+8673189762230
Huai Liu, M.D.
principal investigator · Hunan Cancer Hospital

Oversight

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

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