Personalized oxygen and breathing support for cancer-related breathlessness
Official title: Strategies for Personalizing Oxygen and support Therapies for dyspnea in Oncology
Funded at University of Tx Md Anderson Can Ctr · NIH-11326219 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This trial compares a respiratory-therapist-led program that tailors oxygen and other breathing supports to help hospitalized patients with advanced cancer who are bothered by breathlessness.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Tx Md Anderson Can Ctr NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Houston, United States) |
| Project start | May 1, 2024 |
| Project end | April 30, 2030 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $161,861 |
| NIH project number | 5R01CA288515-03 |
| Project ID | NIH-11326219 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Adults with advanced cancer who are hospitalized and experiencing significant, distressing breathlessness are the ideal candidates.
✕Less likely to help
People without bothersome breathlessness, those not hospitalized, or patients whose breathlessness stems from an unrelated acute medical emergency may not benefit from this trial.
What this research studies
You would be randomly assigned to either a personalized program led by a respiratory therapist that tries short, time-limited trials of oxygen and other breathing supports tailored to you, or to enhanced usual care. Respiratory therapists will work with you to try different combinations and adjust treatments based on how your breathing responds and how you feel. The main aim is to see if the personalized approach reduces breathlessness and helps you function better and feel more comfortable. People in the usual-care group may be offered the personalized program later through a wait-list design.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this could reduce breathlessness, improve daily function and quality of life, and offer better palliative care options for people with advanced cancer.
How similar studies have gone: Previous trials of low-flow oxygen and opioids generally showed limited benefit, so this personalized, therapist-led approach is relatively new though the team’s preliminary data suggest it may help.
Where this research is happening
-
University of Tx Md Anderson Can Ctr
Houston, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Hui, David — University of Tx Md Anderson Can Ctr
- Study coordinator: Hui, David
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
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Patient-centered risk profiling to tailor breathlessness care
A study from UCLA aims to use AI to identify why a smoker experiences shortness of breath and tailor care to each person.
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Understanding how the brain shapes breathing to help people with persistent breathlessness
Researchers are studying how higher brain regions influence breathing and the feeling of breathlessness in people with conditions like COPD and asthma, with the goal of safer, non-ventilation-impairing treatments.
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Predicting and continuously monitoring breathlessness with noninvasive signals
A study to create a machine-learning tool that uses easy-to-measure body signals to predict when patients feel breathless, even if they can’t communicate.
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How the brain creates ongoing breathlessness
Researchers are recording brain signals from people who already have implanted epilepsy electrodes to understand how higher brain regions produce ongoing breathlessness in conditions like COPD, asthma, heart or neuromuscular disease.
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Brief behavioral support to help breathlessness in advanced lung cancer
A multi-site study tests a short behavioral program delivered by nurses to help adults with advanced lung cancer feel less breathless and more able to do daily activities.
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Personalized oxygen therapies for cancer-related breathing difficulties
This study is looking to help people with advanced cancer who are having trouble breathing by comparing a special program led by respiratory therapists to regular care, to see which one works better at making breathing easier.
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.