Parenting Support Intervention for Families Coping With Metastatic or Locally Recurrent Solid Tumor Diagnosis

February 17, 2026 updated by: M.D. Anderson Cancer Center

Parenting Support Intervention for Families Coping With an Advanced Cancer Diagnosis

This clinical trial examines the acceptability and effect of a parenting support intervention for families coping with solid tumor that has spread to other places in the body (metastatic) or has come back (recurrent). Parenting support program may help to reduce common parenting concerns, improve communication between parents and children about cancer, and improve the overall psychological wellbeing of parents.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

PRIMARY OBJECTIVES:

I. Examine the acceptability a parenting support intervention in 10 patients with an incurable cancer and their spousal caregivers. (Trial 1) II. Examine the feasibility of implementing a parenting support intervention in 50 patients with an incurable cancer and their spousal caregivers. (Trial 2) III. Evaluate the initial evidence for intervention efficacy relative to waitlist control (WLC) group regarding patient and spousal caregiver psychological symptoms (primary outcome) and parenting concerns and parenting efficacy (secondary outcomes) and patient end of life (EOL) healthcare utilization (exploratory outcome). (Trial 2) IV. Understand the patients and caregivers' experiences using qualitative methods regarding participation in this study and explore emerging themes as possible intervention mediators/moderators to be examined in future research. (Trial 2)

OUTLINE:

TRIAL 1: Participants receive education materials (brochure and a video) and attend 2 weekly videoconference intervention sessions over 45 minutes each. Caregivers attend 2 additional weekly intervention sessions over 45 minutes each.

TRIAL 2: Participants are randomized to 1 of 2 groups.

GROUP I: Participants receive education materials (brochure and a video) and attend 2 weekly videoconference intervention sessions over 45 minutes each. Caregivers attend 2 additional weekly intervention sessions over 45 minutes each.

GROUP II: Participants receive standard of care.

After completion of study, participants in Trial 1 are followed up at 6 and 12 weeks and participants in Trial 2 are followed up at 12 weeks.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

120

Phase

  • 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 Locations

  • United States
    • Texas
      • Houston, Texas, United States, 77030
        • Recruiting
        • M D Anderson Cancer Center
        • Contact:
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Kathrin Milbury

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

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Participants must (1) be diagnosed with a metastatic or locally recurrent solid malignant tumor and on active treatment; (2) be at least 18 years old; (3) have at least one dependent child between the ages of 4 and 16 and currently living with the parent; (4) be able to provide informed consent and (5) have a spousal caregiver over the age of 18 who co-parents the child(ren) (i.e. share custody) and is willing and able to consent to participate.*

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Participants and caregivers who do not read and speak English and who do not have access to the internet.

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: Supportive Care
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Group II (waitlist control)
Participants receive standard of care.
Other: Questionnaire Administration
Ancillary studies
Other: Best Practice
Receive standard of care
Other Names:
  • standard of care
  • standard therapy
Experimental: Group I (education material, videoconference session)
Examine the acceptability of a parenting support intervention in 10 patients with an incurable cancer and their spousal caregivers (cohort A) and 10 patients with an advanced cancer diagnosis and their family caregivers (cohort B).
Other: Questionnaire Administration
Ancillary studies
Other: Educational Intervention
Receive educational materials and attend videoconference sessions
Other Names:
  • Education for Intervention
  • Intervention by Education
  • Intervention through Education
  • Intervention, Educational

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Examine the feasibility of implementing a parenting support intervention in 50 patients with an incurable cancer and their spousal caregivers.
Time Frame: Through study completion, an average of 1 year
Through study completion, an average of 1 year

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

M.D. Anderson Cancer Center

Collaborators

National Cancer Institute (NCI)

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Kathrin Milbury, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center

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.

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 (Actual)

November 30, 2021

Primary Completion (Estimated)

December 31, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

December 31, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

September 10, 2021

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 20, 2021

First Posted (Actual)

September 28, 2021

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

February 19, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 17, 2026

Last Verified

February 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 2021-0380 (Other Identifier: M D Anderson Cancer Center)
  • NCI-2021-09153 (Registry Identifier: CTRP (Clinical Trial Reporting Program))
  • R21CA256694 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

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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