Comparison of an Initial Active Follow-up and Therapeutic Care on Functional Outcome and Quality of Life in Patients With Head and Neck Paragangliomas (PRONO-PARAG-N)

August 20, 2026 updated by: Hospices Civils de Lyon
Head and neck paragangliomas (HNPGs) are predominantly non-secreting, benign and slow-growing tumors. Although most patients remain asymptomatic, up to 30% develop symptoms related to local tumor growth and fewer than 5-10% develop metastatic disease. Surgery has long been considered the standard treatment, while radiotherapy and active surveillance represent alternative management strategies. Treatment-related morbidity and impaired quality of life have been reported in patients with HNPGs; however, the impact of immediate intervention compared with an initial active surveillance strategy has not been prospectively evaluated. This multicenter randomized controlled trial aims to compare active surveillance with immediate intervention in patients with newly diagnosed carotid or vagal paragangliomas. The study hypothesis is that an initial active surveillance strategy increases the time before functional outcome deterioration, particularly ENT-related symptoms, while not resulting in a higher complication rate when treatment is subsequently performed. Eligible patients will undergo baseline assessment including a specialized ENT examination to evaluate cranial nerve function and cervical MRI (or contrast-enhanced CT when MRI is contraindicated) to confirm tumor location, size, and the absence of lymphadenopathy or atypical imaging features. After providing written informed consent, participants will be centrally randomized in a 1:1 ratio, stratified by study center and tumor location, to either active surveillance or immediate intervention. Patients assigned to active surveillance will undergo regular clinical and radiological follow-up, with treatment initiated only if disease progression or symptom development warrants intervention. Patients assigned to immediate intervention will receive surgery or radiotherapy according to multidisciplinary team recommendations and local practice, within six months after randomization. Patients who decline participation in the randomized trial, as well as those who are not eligible for randomization, may be offered participation in a parallel observational study collecting clinical, imaging, treatment and outcome data according to routine practice. Patient quality of life will also be assessed throughout the study (experimental and observational) using validated questionnaires.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Not yet 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.

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 (Estimated)

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.
122

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.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

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

Study Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

  • France
      • Bron, France, 69500
        • Fédération d'endocrinologie, Hôpital cardiologique - Groupement Hospitalier Est - Hospices Civils de Lyon
        • Contact:
        • Contact:
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Hélène LASOLLE, PU-PH, MD
      • Paris, France, 75010
        • Service ORL - Hôpital Lariboisière - AP-HP
        • Contact:
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Philippe HERMAN, PU-PH, MD
      • Paris, France, 75013
        • Médecine Nucléaire - Hôpital Pitié-Salpêtrière - AP-HP
        • Contact:
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Charlotte LUSSEY, PU-PH, MD
      • Paris, France, 75014
        • Service d'Endocrinologie - Hôpital Cochin
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Rossella LIBE, MD
        • Contact:
      • Paris, France, 75015
        • Service Endocrinologie et métabolismes - Hôpital Européen Georges Pompidou - AP-HP
        • Contact:
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Julien RIANCHO, MD
      • Pessac, France, 36604
        • Service d'endocrinologie, diabétologie et nutrition - Hôpital Haut-Lévêque - CHU de Bordeaux
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Magalie HAISSAGUERRE, MD
        • Contact:
      • Saint-Herblain, France, 44800
        • Service Endocrinologie Diabétologie Nutrition - Hôpital Nord Laennec - CHU de Nantes
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Delphine DRUI, MD
        • Contact:
      • Strasbourg, France, 67091
        • Endocrinologie, diabète et nutrition - Hôpital de Hautepierre - CHRU de Strasbourg
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Philippe BALTZINGER, MD
        • Contact:

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:

  • Patients ≥ 18 years-old,
  • Diagnosis of carotid or vagal HNPG with a largest diameter more than 10 mm
  • Diagnosis confirmed by imaging reading (MRI of CT scan) from less than 6 months,
  • Study eligibility validated in multidisciplinary discussion,
  • Patient followed in the reference center,
  • Preliminary written informed consent before any study-specific intervention

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Patient with initial nerve palsy due to the evaluated HNPG,
  • Patient with non-typical presentation suggestive of aggressiveness (tumor pain, atypical imaging, suspicious lymphadenopathy),
  • Malignant HNPG identified by extra cervical lesion on metabolic imaging,
  • More than one HNPG at inclusion
  • Secreting HNPG defined as plasma or urine metanephrine or normetanephrine more than 2 times ULN,
  • Patient already treated with cervical radiotherapy,
  • Patient already treated with systemic therapy for another pheochromocytoma or paraganglioma,
  • Patient with another evolutive disease or other condition resulting on a life expectancy of less than 5 years at the investigator's discretion,
  • Patient unable or unwilling to be treated at the study center
  • Patients currently enrolled in another interventional study including investigational medicinal products or device,
  • Female patients who are pregnant, lactating or women of child-bearing potential without highly effective methods of contraception
  • Persons deprived of their liberty by a judicial or administrative decision
  • Persons under psychiatric care
  • Persons admitted to a health or social institution for purposes other than research
  • Adults subject to a legal protection measure (guardianship, curatorship)
  • Persons not affiliated to a social security scheme or beneficiaries of a similar scheme

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: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel 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: Active follow-up
Other: Active follow-up
Patients will not receive any treatment, they will undergo annual follow-up assessments according to the standard of care. Upon disease progression, patients will be allowed to switch to the treatment group.
Active Comparator: Treatment
Patients will be treated by surgery or radiation. The choice between these 2 options is left to the discretion of the investigator and the patient.
Procedure: Surgery
Patients may be treated with surgery to remove the paraganglioma within 6 months after randomization.
Radiation: Radiation
Patients may be treated with radiation within 6 months after randomization.

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
Time to functional outcome deterioration
Time Frame: From baseline to 5 years maximum
Time to functional outcome deterioration is defined as the delay between inclusion and functional outcome deterioration. Patients without functional deterioration are censored at their last functional assessment. Functional outcome deterioration is defined as a decrease in at least 12 points (or 8.6%) of the FACT H&N score since inclusion. The FACT-H&N score ranges from 0 to 148. The higher the score, the better the quality of life.
From baseline to 5 years maximum

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
Evolution of the functional outcomes between the groups
Time Frame: Baseline, 1 year and 5 years
Functional outcomes are defined by the overall score of the FACT H&N in both groups. The FACT-H&N score ranges from 0 to 148. The higher the score, the better the quality of life.
Baseline, 1 year and 5 years
Evolution of the functional outcomes between the groups
Time Frame: Baseline, 1 year and 5 years
Functional outcomes are defined by the overall score of the EORTC QLQ-HN43 in both groups. The scores of the EORTC QLQ-HN43 module are standardized on a scale from 0 to 100. For all symptom scales, a higher score reflects greater symptom burden and poorer quality of life.
Baseline, 1 year and 5 years
Quality of life (QoL)
Time Frame: Baseline, 1 year and 5 years
Change on QoL in both groups assessed by the global health status score of the EORTC QLQ-C30. The scores of the EORTC QLQ-C30 questionnaire are standardized on a scale from 0 to 100. A higher score reflects a better level of functioning and a better quality of life.
Baseline, 1 year and 5 years
Anxiety
Time Frame: Baseline, 1 year and 5 years
Change on the anxiety evaluation in both groups assessed by HAD scale. The higher the score, the greater the severity of anxiety or depressive symptoms. The total score ranges from 0 to 42.
Baseline, 1 year and 5 years
Factors associated with a significant quality of life
Time Frame: Baseline, 1 year, 5 years
Variation of at least 10% of the global health status score of the EORTC QLQ-C30. The scores of the EORTC QLQ-C30 questionnaire are standardized on a scale from 0 to 100. A higher score reflects a better level of functioning and a better quality of life.
Baseline, 1 year, 5 years
Factors associated with functional outcomes
Time Frame: Baseline, 1 year, 5 years
Variation of at least 10% of the one of the scales of the QLQ-HN43. The scores of the EORTC QLQ-HN43 module are standardized on a scale from 0 to 100. For all symptom scales, a higher score reflects greater symptom burden and poorer quality of life.
Baseline, 1 year, 5 years
Factors associated with anxiety deterioration
Time Frame: Baseline, 1 year, 5 years
Variation of at least 10% of the anxiety scale of HAD. The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) consists of two subscales including anxiety. Each subscale ranges from 0 to 21, with higher scores reflecting more severe symptomatology.
Baseline, 1 year, 5 years
Switch proportion, reason and time to therapeutic intervention
Time Frame: From baseline to study end
Proportion of patients in the active FU group needing later therapeutic intervention, the reason and the time to therapeutic intervention
From baseline to study end
Progression/recurrence rate
Time Frame: From baseline to study end
Time to progression/recurrence defined as the delay between inclusion and tumor progression in all groups (20% increase in one diameter increase according to RECIST 1.1 criteria, spread metastasis or tumor appearance after total removal). Patients without progression/recurrence will be censored at the last imaging assessment. At least, one assessment will be conducted at 5 years.
From baseline to study end
Surgery complication rate
Time Frame: At 1 year and 5 years
Proportion of all operated patients with complications post-surgery (Clavien-Dindo classification).
At 1 year and 5 years
Radiation therapy complication rate
Time Frame: At 1 year and 5 years
Proportion of all irradiated patients with complications post irradiation (CTCAE V5.0)
At 1 year and 5 years
Disease progression
Time Frame: At 1 year and 5 years
Characterization of spontaneous tumor evolution in patients with active FU
At 1 year and 5 years
Proportion of distant metastasis
Time Frame: At 5 years
Characterization of spontaneous tumor evolution in patients with active FU
At 5 years

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.
Hospices Civils de Lyon

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.
  • Principal Investigator: Hélène LASOLLE, PU-PH, MD, Hospices Civils de Lyon

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 (Estimated)

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.
October 10, 2026

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.
October 10, 2034

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.
October 10, 2034

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 4, 2026

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.
August 20, 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.
August 25, 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.
August 25, 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.
August 20, 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.
August 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.
  • 69HCL24_0915
  • 2025-A02947-42 (Registry Identifier: ID-RCB)

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

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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