Observational Study on Predicting Radiation-Induced Oropharyngeal Mucositis Using a New Mucosal Contouring Method in Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Patients

What this Trial Is About

Researchers are studying a new mucosal contouring method to predict radiation-induced oropharyngeal mucositis in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma NPC. This condition, which causes swallowing-induced breakthrough pain, greatly affects patients quality of life during radiotherapy. Previous prediction models using oral cavity or mucosa surface contouring were not satisfactory, so this study aims to further evaluate a method based on mucosal areas linked to breakthrough pain in a real-world, multicenter observational setting. This observational study will follow patients with locally advanced NPC undergoing radical radiotherapy or chemoradiotherapy. The study focuses on assessing how well the mucosal delineation method predicts the occurrence and severity of oropharyngeal mucositis by tracking swallowing-induced breakthrough pain. There are no investigational treatments involved instead, patients are observed and data is collected during their standard care. Participants will have their oral or oropharyngeal mucositis severity and swallowing pain recorded continuously throughout their treatment. Researchers will analyze the predictive models performance by measuring accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, and other statistical values over up to three years. The study will help improve risk assessment and early intervention for mucositis in NPC patients, with all data collected during their regular clinical visits.

A Real-world Observational Study of a Mucosal Contouring Method for Radiation-induced Oropharyngeal Mucositis