An interventional study of tests in Pediatric Hematologic Malignancies and Pediatric Oncology, sponsored by Centre Leon Berard. Recruiting at 1 site in France. Open to participants aged 7 Years to 17 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-06-08.
Sponsored by Centre Leon Berard · Not applicable, Interventional, and Supportive care
Cancer treatments in children are very intense and often cause side effects such as nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, and changes in taste and smell. These sensory alterations can impact eating habits, but they are still poorly understood in children. The study aims to assess whether it is feasible to measure these sensory changes (taste, smell, salivation, and food preferences) in children and adolescents undergoing cancer treatment.
This study is a feasibility study with 30 patients aged 7 to 17 years, treated at the Pediatric Hematology and Oncology Institute (IHOPE) in Lyon. Sensory tests and questionnaires to evaluate the perceptions, oral health, eating habits, nutritional status, and quality of life are used.
The inclusion was initially planned at diagnosis, before any administration of chemotherapy. However, the study quickly encountered a recruitment problem due to the emotional impact and medical burden of this initial period of care (study offered to 11 families over a period of 5 months, 3 patients included). An amendment to the protocol was therefore made to be able to modify the inclusion period after the completion of chemotherapy. This modification was implemented on May 15, 2025, and allowed the inclusion of two new patients, making a total of 5 patients. Of these 5 patients, two completed all the tests during V0 and V1, two completed V0 but not V1, one did not complete any of the visits.
This feasibility phase will help determine whether the tools are suitable and well accepted. The results will be used to design a larger study aimed at better understanding how taste and smell alterations influence the eating behaviors of young patients during cancer treatment. Recruitment will continue for six more months in order to reach the target number of participants.
Today, the chances of survival among children and adolescents who have been diagnosed with cancer are 80%, particularly due to early diagnosis and access to appropriate care. Although multimodal care strategies have improved the survival rate in pediatric patients, highly toxic treatments cause various short- and long-term side effects such as nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, and alterations in taste perception. These side effects affect the comfort and quality of life of patients and expose them to a high risk of malnutrition. Sensory alterations related to smell, taste and texture reduce appetite and pleasure in eating, thus reducing food intake. More than 45% of children and adolescents treated for cancer suffer from malnutrition, which impacts their immune function, their response to treatments, their quality of life and even the costs of care. The consequences of sensory alterations on behaviors, preferences and eating habits are still little studied in children and adolescents treated for cancer. Similarly, olfactory and somesthetic capacities are very little explored in these patients. Only few studies are available in this area in pediatrics, and no studies take into account texture perception, which is essential for food acceptance.
This study is a feasibility study aimed at exploring the tools for measuring sensory alterations. It aims to evaluate taste and olfactory capacities, as well as food preferences in terms of textures among children. The study is a single-arm intervention. The study will include 30 patients between 7 and 17 years old, newly diagnosed with oncological or hematological malignancies, treated at IHOPE (Institute of Hematology and Pediatric Oncology) in Lyon, until today 3 patients have been included. The protocol had to undergo a second session in the Ethics County for changes to the recruitment process on May 7, 2025, with the aim of having more inclusions of participants. The change consists of doing the tests before the second chemotherapy cycle instead of the first cycle since patients have a lot of procedures to do in hospital management and they did not agree to participate in the study. The measures that are taken are, olfactory and gustatory capacities, measurement of salivary quantity and quality, preference and acceptance of textures. The state of oral health, dietary habits and food consumption with questionnaires are also assessed. Measurements of weight, height and BMI are taken, and nutritional status is assessed. The Easy Assessment Score of Ingesta is also used for an early diagnosis of the risk of malnutrition or undernutrition and finally the quality of life with the help of a questionnaire.
52 studies on the registry are indexed under Dysgeusia; 12 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 30 is below the median of 49 across 28 interventional studies indexed under Dysgeusia.
Browse Dysgeusia studies →Centre Leon Berard is the lead sponsor of 210 studies on the registry; 62 are open to participants now.
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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.
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.
Relapsed: the illness came back after treatment had worked. Refractory: it did not respond to treatment, or stopped responding while still on it.
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.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Relapsed and refractory
Relapsed: the illness came back after treatment had worked. Refractory: it did not respond to treatment, or stopped responding while still on it.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
The measures that are taken are, olfactory and gustatory capacities, measurement of salivary quantity and quality, preference and acceptance of textures. We also assess the state of oral health, dietary habits and food consumption with questionnaires. Measurements of weight, height and BMI are taken, and nutritional status is assessed. The Easy Assessment Score of Ingesta is also used for an early diagnosis of the risk of malnutrition or undernutrition and finally the quality of life with the help of a questionnaire.
Diagnostic Test: tests
The measures that are taken are, olfactory and gustatory capacities, measurement of salivary quantity and quality, preference and acceptance of textures. We also assess the state of oral health, dietary habits and food consumption with questionnaires. Measurements of weight, height and BMI are taken, and nutritional status is assessed. The Easy Assessment Score of Ingesta is also used for an early diagnosis of the risk of malnutrition or undernutrition and finally the quality of life with the help of a questionnaire.
To determine the feasibility of testing olfactory, gustatory, and salivary function in children aged 7 to 17 years undergoing chemotherapy.
Completion rate: proportion of patients who complete all of the following tests in full at both measurement times. The tests will be considered feasible if at least 60% of patients complete all of the tests
Time frame: T0 : first day of the second cycle of chemotherapy; T1 : 1 month after T0
Correlation between impaired olfactory ability / impaired taste ability and: Sensitivity to texture /Texture preference / Food preferences and habits / Salivary function / Caloric intake / Nutritional status / Quality of life
evaluating the rate of patients presenting olfactory impairment (assessed by the Sniffin Sticks test) or taste impairment (assessed using taste strips) who are also presenting : * taste impairment, using the Taste Alteration Scale for Children with Cancer Receiving Chemotherapy questionnaires and the Gustonco questionnaire. * a modification of sensitivity to texture, measured on a 7-point smiley scale using food samples * a modification of food texture preference assessed using a questionnaire based on pictographic drawings. * a modification of food preferences and habits assessed using the Behavioral Pediatrics Feeding Assessment Scale * a modification of salivary function measured using a Saliva-check BUFFER kit. The daily calorie intake of every patient will be assessed using a 24-hour food diary, the nutritional status (weight in kg, height in cm, body mass index (BMI)and the quality of life will be assessed using the PedsQL questionnaire
Time frame: T0 : first day of the second cycle of chemotherapy; T1 : 1 month after T0
Plan to share: No
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