Oral Mucositis Management in Patients Receiving Radiation for Head and Neck Cancer: An Evaluation of a Barrier Based Treatment (TOPHAT)

July 8, 2026 updated by: McMaster University

A Prospective Feasibility Cohort Trial of Oral Mucositis Management in Patients Receiving Radiation for Head and Neck Cancer: An Evaluation of a Barrier-based Treatment (Gelclair)

Patients who are undergoing radiation therapy on their head and/or neck, are highly likely to experience oral mucositis, which is inflammation and irritation of the mucus membranes in your mouth. This inflammation leads to difficulty eating and drinking normally as it becomes painful to do so. Currently, the Juravinski Cancer Centre (JCC) uses a standard mouth rinse to try and help prevent inflammation/soothe the pain of inflammation caused by radiation treatments, however, better options may exist. Biosyent's Gelclair is a widely available, safe-to-use mouth rinse that aims to create a protective coating on your mucus membranes to help reduce inflammation and discomfort during your radiation treatment. We aim to see if this product provides a more positive experience for patients then the current mouth rinse utilized by the JCC.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Active, not recruiting

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

The current magic mouthwash being utilized at the JCC for standard of care for Heck and Neck Radiation patients has been shown to not be anymore effective than other standard sulcate-tantum mouthwashes in preventing discomfort or reducing the requirement of needing a feeding tube for sustenance during radiation treatments. More recently two mucoadhesive topical coating agents have been approved in Canada for this population of patients, Gengigel and Gelclair. These agents adhere to the mucosa and potentially improve efficacy of the therapeutic agent due to rapid absorption and easy application. A recent systematic review of bioadhesives for the treatment of RIOM found statistically significant decrease in severe oral mucositis. We aim to determine if patients tolerate gelclair use, and to determine their use of and satisfaction with gelclair. This will inform the need for a large national RCT on Gelclair use.

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.
29

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 4

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

  • Canada
    • Ontario
      • Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, L8V 5C2
        • Juravinski Cancer Centre

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

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • 18 years of age or older.
  • Histologically proven (from either the primary lesion or regional lymph nodes) squamous cell carcinoma of the oropharynx or oral cavity.
  • Plan to receive at least 60 Gy dose of radiotherapy to be delivered daily Monday to Friday for 6 to 7 weeks.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Patient is unable (i.e. insufficiently fluent) or unwilling to complete the weekly questionnaires which are written in English.
  • Inability to provide informed consent.
  • ECOG performance score 2 or better.
  • Plan to receive a concurrent chemotherapy agent other than cisplatin.
  • Investigational agent of any kind within 30 days prior to enrollment.
  • Concurrent administration of any other experimental intervention given for the purpose of preventing RIOM (see section 7.5).
  • History of allergies or hypersensitivity reactions to any of the components in Gelclair.

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: Device Feasibility
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

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: Treatment Group: Gelclair
Treatment Group: Patients who receive Gelclair as part of their participation in the study
Device: Gelclair Oral Mouth Rinse
Gelclair is viscous gel that is designed to sooth pain relating to oral mucositis.

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
Feasibility of Recruitment:
Time Frame: 6 Months

Feasibility based on:

Recruitment Rate (Pass is successful recruitment of 40 patients within 6 months)
6 Months
Participant Compliance Rate
Time Frame: 8 weeks
• Compliance Rate (Percent of patient who complete study & all questionnaires as per protocol, pass is >75%)
8 weeks
Product Tolerability Rate
Time Frame: 8 Weeks
• Tolerability Rate (Percent of patients who use Gelclair for 10 days or longer, pass is >50%)
8 Weeks

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
Time to Grade 3 Oral Mucositis
Time Frame: 8 Weeks
Time from enrollment (day 0 of RT) until grade 3 oral mucositis (measured in days) is reported.
8 Weeks
Patient Reported QoL
Time Frame: 8 Weeks
The severity of patient-reported symptoms of oral mucositis throughout the course of treatment as determined by clinically significant change in Oral Mucositis Weekly Questionnaire-Head and Neck Cancer (OMWQ-HN; see Appendix II questions 1-8) scores from baseline. The OMWQ-HN will be administered before the start of RT at baseline, and every 2 weeks until completion of RT, therefore weeks 2, 4, and 6 and then 1 final time 2 weeks post-treatment on week 8.
8 Weeks
Ability to Eat
Time Frame: 8 Weeks
Number of days from start of treatment to feeding tube insertion / % participants requiring feeding tubes
8 Weeks
Time to the Initiation of Systemic Opiods
Time Frame: 8 Weeks
Time from enrollment (day 0 of RT) until the initiation of potent systemic opioid or increase in dose from baseline (measured in days).
8 Weeks
Radiation Therapy Delay >7 Days
Time Frame: 8 Weeks
Time from enrollment (day 0 of RT) until treatment delay of RT of 7 days or longer.
8 Weeks

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.
McMaster University

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.
Hamilton Health Sciences Corporation
Escarpment Cancer Research Institute (ECRI)

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 (Actual)

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 15, 2025

Primary Completion (Estimated)

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.
September 30, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

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.
December 31, 2026

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).
August 28, 2025

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.
July 8, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

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.
July 13, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

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.
July 13, 2026

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.
July 8, 2026

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.
July 1, 2026

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.
  • 18414

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

IPD Plan Description

This is a small scale feasibility trial that will inform if a larger, more impact trial is warranted. To protect patient privacy and confidentiality, IDE will not be shared outside of the study team.

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

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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Conditions

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