Clinical trial · Observational
Chemotherapy-Induced Hearing Loss and Health Inequality
- Source
- ClinicalTrials.gov
- Retrieved
- Sep 11, 2026
- Layer
- normalized (units and labels harmonized; values unchanged)
- Run
- ING-CLINICALTRIALS-20260911-000001
Summary
Brief summary (as posted)
This project aims to understand how platinum-based chemotherapy affects hearing function in cancer patients from different socioeconomic backgrounds in the North West of England. Platinum-based chemotherapy drugs, such as cisplatin, are ototoxic, meaning that they cause permanent damage to the hair cells of the ear, resulting in hearing loss. Patients from more deprived backgrounds face additional risk factors to their hearing health, including limited healthcare access, greater occupational noise exposure, and poorer overall health, making them more vulnerable to hearing loss. This is especially concerning as hearing loss can make communication more challenging, which creates a greater reliance on cognitive processes such as thinking and memory to navigate social interactions. This challenge is exacerbated when individuals experience cognitive dysfunction related to chemotherapy, commonly referred to as 'chemo brain'. Addressing these communication difficulties is crucial for promoting healthy ageing and maintaining social engagement. It is expected that cancer patients from the most deprived backgrounds would experience greater hearing loss following chemotherapy than those from less deprived backgrounds. As a secondary aim, this study will also investigate how hearing loss may affect cognitive function. Specifically, it will assess whether differences in speech-in-noise performance from pre- to post-treatment predict cognitive performance post-treatment, to understand if changes in hearing over time are associated with changes in cognition. The study will also explore how socioeconomic deprivation, cumulative chemotherapy dose, and treatment duration influence these relationships. By identifying disparities in hearing loss and possible associations with cognition, this research will help guide future hearing screening and intervention strategies for cancer patients.
Conditions
Conditions (4)
Free-text conditions as registered, with the CancerIndex entity they were reconciled to and the match type.
| Condition (as posted) | Mapped entity | Match | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cancer | Malignant Neoplasm | ALIAS | 0.90 |
| Chemo Brain | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
| Chemotherapy | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
| Hearing | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
Interventions
Interventions (0)
Data not yet available
Design
Arms and outcomes
Arms (1)
- label
- Chemotherapy patients
- description
- Patients set to be treated with platinum-based chemotherapy drugs in the North West of England.
Primary outcomes (1)
- measure
- Speech Reception Threshold in noise (Digit Triplet Test, dB Signal-to-Noise Ratio)
- timeFrame
- Assessments are conducted at baseline (pre-chemotherapy), within seven days of chemotherapy treatment ending, and 6 months post-chemotherapy.
- description
- Speech reception threshold measured using the Digit Triplet Test, defined as the signal-to-noise ratio at which 50% of digit triplets are correctly identified. A lower (more negative) signal-to-noise ratio value indicates better speech-in-noise performance. The Digit Triplet Test presents sequences of spoken three digits embedded in background noise, with the noise level fixed and the speech level adaptively varied to estimate the signal-to-noise ratio required for 50% correct recognition.
Secondary outcomes (5)
- measure
- Forwards Digit Span Task: Short-term Memory
- timeFrame
Eligibility
Eligibility (as posted)
- Sex
- All
- Minimum age
- 18 Years
Show eligibility criteria text
Inclusion Criteria: * Patients receiving platinum-based chemotherapy drugs * Living and treated within North West England * Able to complete an online hearing and cognitive test * Fluent in English Exclusion Criteria: * Following cancer types: brain tumour/metastasis, head + neck, skin cancers around the ear, and adenoid cystic carcinoma of the auditory cortex * World Health Organisation performance status score of 3 or more * Stage 4 cancer * History of childhood deafness * Current or recent ear infections * Cochlear implant user * Known neurological impairment (e.g., stroke, traumatic brain injury, dementia) * Patients who look capacity to consent or complete study tasks
References
Publications (17)
- BACKGROUNDSlade K, Reilly JH, Jablonska K, Smith E, Hayes LD, Plack CJ, Nuttall HE. The impact of age-related hearing loss on structural neuroanatomy: A meta-analysis. Front Neurol. 2022 Aug 8;13:950997. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2022.950997. eCollection 2022. PMID 36003293
- BACKGROUNDDe Sousa KC, Swanepoel W, Moore DR, Myburgh HC, Smits C. Improving Sensitivity of the Digits-In-Noise Test Using Antiphasic Stimuli. Ear Hear. 2020 Mar/Apr;41(2):442-450. doi: 10.1097/AUD.0000000000000775. PMID 31425362
- BACKGROUNDDe Sousa KC, Smits C, Moore DR, Myburgh HC, Swanepoel W. Diotic and Antiphasic Digits-in-noise Testing as a Hearing Screening and Triage Tool to Classify Type of Hearing Loss. Ear Hear. 2022 May/Jun;43(3):1037-1048. doi: 10.1097/AUD.0000000000001160. PMID 34799493
- BACKGROUNDAhmad T, Ullah AZMD, Chelala C, Taylor SJC. Ethnic and Socio-Economic Variations in Comorbidity and Mortality in Cancer Survivors: A UK Population-Based Observational Study. Cancers (Basel). 2025 Mar 14;17(6):983. doi: 10.3390/cancers17060983. PMID 40149316
- BACKGROUNDExarchakou A, Kipourou DK, Belot A, Rachet B. Socio-economic inequalities in cancer survival: how do they translate into Number of Life-Years Lost? Br J Cancer. 2022 Jun;126(10):1490-1498. doi: 10.1038/s41416-022-01720-x. Epub 2022 Feb 11. PMID 35149855
- BACKGROUNDTsimpida D, Panagioti M, Kontopantelis E. Forty years on: a new national study of hearing in England and implications for global hearing health policy. Int J Audiol. 2023 Jan;62(1):62-70. doi: 10.1080/14992027.2021.2022791. Epub 2022 Jan 26. PMID 35080184
- BACKGROUNDStangler LTB, de Almeida Robatto AA, Galvao Freire PJ, de Castro Junior G. The challenge of chemotherapy-related cognitive impairment: assessing and managing cognitive decline after cancer treatment. Ecancermedicalscience. 2025 Aug 5;19:1958. doi: 10.3332/ecancer.2025.1958. eCollection 2025.