
"I was delighted to take part in a clinical trial as it has the potential to really help others in the future.”
Please note - this trial is no longer recruiting patients. We hope to add results when they are available.
This trial is looking at whether a programme of exercises before treatment can help people with their eating, drinking and swallowing after treatment.
Doctors can treat people with a head and neck cancer with:
We know that these treatments can have a major effect on your swallowing.
The standard care to help with this is to see the speech and language therapist (SLT) after your treatment. They give everyone a general set of swallowing exercises.
Researchers think that having a swallowing package tailored for you and starting it before treatment might be better. This is SIP SMART and it involves:
To find this out half the people in this trial have the standard care. The other half get SIP SMART as well as standard care.
The aims of this trial are to find out whether:
The following bullet points are a summary of the entry conditions for this trial. Talk to your doctor or the trial team if you are unsure about any of these. They will be able to advise you.
Who can take part
You may be able to join this trial if all of the following apply. You:
Who can’t take part
You cannot join this trial if any of these apply. You:
This is a pilot trial. The team need between 72 and 90 people to join.
It is a cluster randomised trial. Which group you are in depends on which hospital you are having treatment at. The 2 groups are:
The speech and language therapist (SLT) with the research nurse sees you before the start of your treatment. They will ask a few questions and get some information from your medical notes.
SIP SMART
For those in this group you have:
The extra visit is for the x-ray swallow and for SLT to explain your specific swallowing exercises.
Standard care
In this group you see the SLT according to the standard care at your hospital..
Quality of life
You fill in questionnaires:
The questions ask about:
These are quality of life questionnaires.
At the same time you also fill in a questionnaire about how often you have seen a health professional who isn’t part of your hospital care team. Examples of these professionals are your GP or a community nurse.
You might be able to fill these questions in online.
You see the speech and language therapist for a few checks and examinations before taking part. These tests are a:
People in the SIP SMART group also have an x-ray of their swallowing done.
You then see them after treatment at:
There are no side effects from taking part in this study.
We have information about:
Please note: In order to join a trial you will need to discuss it with your doctor, unless otherwise specified.
Dr Roganie Govender
University College London (UCL)
NIHR Academy
If you have questions about the trial please contact our cancer information nurses
Freephone 0808 800 4040
"I was delighted to take part in a clinical trial as it has the potential to really help others in the future.”