Circulating Tumor Cells in Patients With Locally Advanced Rectal Cancer

March 9, 2026 updated by: M.D. Anderson Cancer Center

Circulating Tumor Elements in Patients With Rectal Cancer

This study looks at the level of circulating tumor elements (cancer cells or DNA pieces floating in the blood) and how it may be related to how the tumor responds to standard treatment in patients with rectal cancer that has spread to nearby tissue or lymph nodes (locally advanced). Researchers will also compare the level and genetic characteristics of circulating tumor elements between individuals with rectal cancer and healthy individuals to understand how they may change over time. Information from this study may help researchers better understand rectal cancer.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Active, not recruiting

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

PRIMARY OBJECTIVES:

I. To establish the rate of circulating tumor elements (CTE), including but not limited to circulating tumor cells and circulating tumor deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) detection in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC), relative to other stages.

II. To assess changes in detected CTEs associated with neoadjuvant therapy in patients with LARC.

III. To correlate CTEs with neoadjuvant treatment response as an indicator of disease risk.

OUTLINE:

Patients and healthy participants undergo collection of blood sample at baseline. Patients may also undergo collection of blood sample collections during tumor surgery, 4 weeks after surgery or after completion of treatment if you are not surgery, 8 weeks after the last dose of chemotherapy, 1 year after surgery or 1 year after completion of treatment if not having surgery, 2 years after surgery or 2 years after completion of treatment if not having surgery, and within 6 years after treatment or at the end of the 6 year follow-up if the disease gets worse with treatment or comes back.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Observational

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
341

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 Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Texas
      • Houston, Texas, United States, 77030
        • M D Anderson Cancer Center

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

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Healthy participants and patients diagnosed with rectal (or rectosigmoid) adenocarcinoma at MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • HEALTHY SUBJECT: No known diagnosis of colorectal cancer (CRC) or any other type of cancer for the last 10 years.(basal cell skin cancer is allowed). Subjects will be asked about their cancer history and a verbal confirmation is required

  • Any patient with diagnosis of rectal (or rectosigmoid) adenocarcinoma, including:

    • Patients with primary disease with or without neoadjuvant therapy; OR
    • Patients with recurrent disease with or without neoadjuvant therapy; OR
    • Patients with metastatic disease with or without prior treatment
  • No known current diagnosis of other invasive cancer; if prior diagnosis of other cancer, he/she has been free from cancer for >= 3 years and is on no active treatment
  • Adequate mental and language capacity to provide consent

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

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort

Group / Cohort

A group or subgroup of participants in an observational study that is assessed for biomedical or health outcomes.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Ancillary-Correlative (biospecimen collection)
Patients and healthy participants undergo collection of blood sample at baseline. Patients may also undergo collection of blood sample collections during tumor surgery, 4 weeks after surgery or after completion of treatment if you are not surgery, 8 weeks after the last dose of chemotherapy, 1 year after surgery or 1 year after completion of treatment if not having surgery, 2 years after surgery or 2 years after completion of treatment if not having surgery, and within 6 years after treatment or at the end of the 6 year follow-up if the disease gets worse with treatment or comes back.
Procedure: Biospecimen Collection
Undergo collection of blood sample

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Proportion of treatment naive locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC) patients with circulating tumor cells (CTC)
Time Frame: Baseline up to 6 years
The proportion of patients with any CTC will be calculated with a 95% confidence interval (CI). Additionally, the actual CTC count will be plotted with a box-plot. Proportions of patients with 2 or more, and 3 or more CTCs will be calculated. Will also explore correlations between the presence of 1 or more CTC and primary tumor characteristics using Chi-Squared or Fischer's exact tests as appropriate.
Baseline up to 6 years
Change in circulating tumor cells status
Time Frame: Baseline and 8 weeks after completion of treatment
A McNemar's test will be used to test whether neoadjuvant therapy (NEO) provided any improvement in the proportion of patients with any CTC. The CTC counts at baseline versus 8 weeks after completion of treatment will be compared with a paired t-test.
Baseline and 8 weeks after completion of treatment

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
M.D. Anderson Cancer Center

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Yi-Qian N You, 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)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
September 5, 2013

Primary Completion (Estimated)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
April 30, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
April 30, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
August 17, 2016

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
August 17, 2016

First Posted (Estimated)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
August 22, 2016

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
March 11, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
March 9, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
March 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • PA13-0547 (Other Identifier: M D Anderson Cancer Center)
  • NCI-2020-07460 (Registry Identifier: CTRP (Clinical Trial Reporting Program))

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

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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