Functional Sparing of Salivary Glands Using MRI Sialography for Patients Undergoing Definitive Radiation Therapy for Head and Neck Cancers of the Oropharynx
Public ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT03418792. Field values are reproduced from the official study page; the official ClinicalTrials.gov record remains the source of truth for eligibility, enrollment, and contact information.
Data is sourced from official ClinicalTrials.gov public API records. Always review the official ClinicalTrials.gov record for the latest information.
Brief summary
Reproduced verbatim from the official ClinicalTrials.gov record. Not medical advice.
The proposed study is an attempt to improve patient xerostomia (dry mouth) after definitive radiation therapy treatment for head and neck cancer. Xerostomia is a frequently experienced symptom for those receiving radiation therapies to the head and neck that persists after treatment, potentially indefinitely. It has been shown that stem/progenitor cells preferentially reside in large ducts of salivary glands and that these cells have the ability to repair radiation induced salivary damage. Current practice does not specifically attempt to spare these regions and considers the entire salivary gland to have equal importance and function. This study will involve the acquisition of pre-treatment MRI sialogram images which enable visualization of salivary ducts (using saliva itself as a contrast agent) that can then be avoided during radiation treatment planning. Saliva samples will also be collected at this time to quantify baseline saliva secretion and saliva characteristics. The primary objective will be to obtain patient reported outcomes (PRO) measure of xerostomia related symptoms for comparison with a historical cohort. Xerostomia symptom information will be obtained by use of a patient reported quality of life survey administered prior to treatment and at 6, 12, 18, and 24 months after treatment. The secondary objectives will be to quantitatively assess post-treatment changes in saliva secretion, salivary gland volume, and ductal visibility using MRI sialograms. The target sample size for this study is 40 patients. The investigator hypothesizes that reducing the dose to these stem cell containing salivary ducts will facilitate improvements in patient reported symptoms as well as improved recovery of salivary secretion, salivary gland volume, and intra-glandular ductal visibility using MRI sialograms.
Study identification
- NCT ID
- NCT03418792
- Recruitment status
- Completed
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Not applicable
- Enrollment
- 40 participants
Conditions and interventions
Eligibility (public fields only)
- Age range
- 18 Years and older
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Healthy volunteers not accepted
This page does not interpret eligibility. Detailed inclusion and exclusion criteria are on the official ClinicalTrials.gov record.
Study timeline
- Start date
- Mar 7, 2018
- Primary completion
- Apr 21, 2022
- Completion
- May 1, 2023
- Last update posted
- May 30, 2023
2018 – 2023
United States locations
- U.S. sites
- 1
- U.S. states
- 1
- U.S. cities
- 1
| Facility | City | State | ZIP | Site status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Department of Radiation Oncology | Chapel Hill | North Carolina | 27599 | — |
Site contact phone numbers, emails, and investigator names are intentionally not displayed here. Open the official ClinicalTrials.gov record for site contact information.
About this trial record page
- What this page shows
- Public field values for ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT03418792, including study identification, conditions, interventions, eligibility (age, sex, healthy volunteer), timeline, and U.S. site list.
- What this page does not do
- No medical advice, eligibility judgments, treatment recommendations, study quality scoring, or AI-generated medical summaries. No site contact phone numbers, emails, or investigator names.
- Where the data comes from
- Sourced from the official ClinicalTrials.gov public API. The official record is the source of truth.
- Last refresh
- Last update posted May 30, 2023 · Synced Sep 7, 2026
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Open the official record
The complete protocol, eligibility criteria, and contact information for NCT03418792 live on ClinicalTrials.gov.