Trismus Trial of Therabite vs Wooden Spatula in Head and Neck Cancer Patients

September 30, 2015 updated by: Brynn Chappell

Randomised Pilot Study of Therabite® Versus Wooden Spatula in the Amelioration of Trismus in Head and Neck Cancer Patients. (Trismus Trial)

The trial will compare exercises using Therabite® versus wooden spatulas to prevent or relieve trismus in patients with stage 3 and 4 oral/oropharyngeal cancer.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

Trismus is defined as a tightening of jaw opening. The negative impact of Trismus on the quality of life of head and neck cancer patients is well established. It affects eating, drinking, speaking and social function and is often as debilitating as any disfigurement resulting from treatment.

The use of jaw exercises using a Therabite appliance following treatment has been shown to reduce the level of Trismus in small studies. Many UK centres, however, use stacked wooden spatulas inserted between the incisors as a means of passive exercise. There is anecdotal evidence that suggests the use of exercises prior to treatment may help reduce the severity of the Trismus experienced by the patient.

This study will enrol 112 head and neck cancer patients allocated by chance to use either the Therabite or wooden spatula and patients will be asked to perform mouth exercises on a daily basis for 6 months.

There is a need to evaluate both the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of Therabite as opposed to wooden spatulas to determine whether they should be adopted as standard care in head and neck cancer patients.

In this pilot trial, the investigators will measure benefits of Therabite to patients, as compared to usual care with wooden spatulas. Mouth opening will be the key outcome for the study.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
71

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Phase 2

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United Kingdom
      • Birmingham, United Kingdom, B15 2TH
        • Queen Elizabeth Hospital
      • East Grinstead, United Kingdom, RH19 3DZ
        • Queen Victoria Hospital
      • Liverpool, United Kingdom, L9 7AL
        • Aintree University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
      • Manchester, United Kingdom, M20 4BX
        • The Christie Nhs Foundation Trust
      • York, United Kingdom, YO31 8HE
        • York Hospital

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (ADULT, OLDER_ADULT)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Provision of signed, written informed consent
  • Aged 18 years and older
  • Able to read and write English sufficiently to be able to complete questionnaires
  • Stage 3/4 oral and oropharyngeal cancer patients undergoing:

Primary chemoradiotherapy or Surgical free flap plus post operative radiotherapy or post operative chemoradiotherapy

  • All patients will receive 60-70 Gy in 30-35 fractions over 6 to 7 weeks to the region of the pterygoid muscles.
  • All patients will have at least some trismus as indicated by subjective tightening in the jaw.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • <12mm mouth opening (cannot use Therabite)
  • Anatomically unable to use Therabite for example patients who may only be partially dentate and to use the Therabite would place extreme stress on the existing teeth
  • Cognitive impairment as judged by the clinicians
  • International patients treated who will not have routine UK follow up.
  • Previous surgery or RT to the head and neck prior to this diagnosis
  • Any patient who has no subjective tightening of the jaw.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: PREVENTION
  • Allocation: RANDOMIZED
  • Interventional Model: PARALLEL
  • Masking: NONE

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
EXPERIMENTAL: Wooden spatula
Device: Wooden spatula
Lollipop sticks placed between incisors
EXPERIMENTAL: Therabite
Device: Therabite
Hand held device placed in mouth that exercises the jaw

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in Jaw measurement
Time Frame: Baseline, 3 months and 6 months at hopsital
Willis bite calliper will be used to measure the jaw opening at baseline, 3 and 6 months
Baseline, 3 months and 6 months at hopsital

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Adherence to intervention
Time Frame: up to 6 months
Adherence to device use will be captured by the patient on a progress log
up to 6 months
Quality of Life
Time Frame: Baseline, 3 and 6 months
Baseline, 3 and 6 months
Health economic analysis
Time Frame: Baseline, 3 and 6 months

Patients hospital and service use will be captured at Baseline, 3 and 6 months during interviews with the patient.

Units used will be days in hospital or number of appointments
Baseline, 3 and 6 months

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Brynn Chappell

Collaborators

Collaborators

An organization other than the sponsor that provides support for a clinical study. This support may include activities related to funding, design, implementation, data analysis, or reporting.
The Christie NHS Foundation Trust

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Study Chair: Prof Slevin, The Christie Nhs Foundation Trust

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Helpful Links

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
December 1, 2012

Primary Completion (ACTUAL)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
August 1, 2015

Study Completion (ACTUAL)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
August 1, 2015

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
November 19, 2012

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
November 26, 2012

First Posted (ESTIMATE)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
November 27, 2012

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (ESTIMATE)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
October 1, 2015

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
September 30, 2015

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
September 1, 2015

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • 09DOG0843
  • ISRCTN79084153 (REGISTRY: ISRCTN)
  • PB-PG-0610-22317 (OTHER_GRANT: NIHR Research for Patient Benefit)

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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