ctDNA-guided Surveillance for Stage III CRC, a Randomized Intervention Trial (IMPROVE-IT2)

April 28, 2026 updated by: Claus Lindbjerg Andersen

Implementing Non-invasive Circulating Tumor DNA Analysis to Optimize the Operative and Postoperative Treatment for Patients With Colorectal Cancer - Intervention Trial 2

IMPROVE-IT2 is a randomized multicenter trial comparing the outcomes of ctDNA guided post-operative surveillance and standard-of-care CT-scan surveillance. The hypothesis of this study is that ctDNA guided post-operative surveillance combining ctDNA and radiological assessments could result in earlier detection of recurrent disease and identify more patients eligible for curative treatment.

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.

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.
Interventional

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.
359

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

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.
  • Name: Kaare A Gotschalck, PhD
  • Phone Number: +45 78423786
  • Email: kaarsune@rm.dk

Study Contact Backup

  • Name: Claus L Andersen, PhD
  • Phone Number: +45 78455319
  • Email: cla@clin.au.dk

Study Locations

  • Denmark
      • Aarhus, Denmark, 8000
        • Aarhus University Hospital
      • Copenhagen, Denmark, 2400
        • Bispebjerg Hospital
      • Køge, Denmark, 4600
        • Zealand University Hospital
      • Viborg, Denmark, 8800
        • Regional Hospital Viborg
    • Capital Region of Denmark
      • Herlev, Capital Region of Denmark, Denmark, 2730
        • Herlev Hospital
    • Central Jutland
      • Herning, Central Jutland, Denmark, 7400
        • Gødstrup Hospital
      • Horsens, Central Jutland, Denmark, 8700
        • Regional Hospital Horsens
      • Randers, Central Jutland, Denmark, 8930
        • Regional Hospital Randers
    • North Denmark
      • Aalborg, North Denmark, Denmark, 9000
        • Aalborg University Hospital
    • The Region of Southern Denmark
      • Odense, The Region of Southern Denmark, Denmark, 5000
        • Odense University Hospital

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

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Colon or rectal cancer, tumor stage III (pT1-4N1-2,cM0) or stage II high-risk (pT4N0,cM0 and pT3N0, cM0 with risk factors)
  • Have received curative intend resection and be candidates for adjuvant chemotherapy

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Not treated with adjuvant chemotherapy
  • Synchronous colorectal and non-colorectal cancer diagnosed per-operative (except skin cancer other than melanoma)
  • Other cancers (excluding colorectal cancer or skin cancer other than melanoma) within 3 years from screening
  • Patients who are unlikely to comply with the protocol (e.g. uncooperative attitude), inability to return for subsequent visits) and/or otherwise considered by the Investigator to be unlikely to complete the study.

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

  • Primary Purpose: Diagnostic
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
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.
Experimental: ctDNA guided surveillance
ctDNA analysis will be performed every 4 months postoperatively (4, 8, 12, 16, 20 and 24). At time of first positive ctDNA, patients undergo a whole-body FDG-PET/CT-scan for radiological assessment and a colonoscopy. If the initial assessment is without evidence of recurrence, patients will be offered high-intensive radiological surveillance with FDG-PET/CT-scans every 3 months, until recurrence detection or 21 months has passed. At baseline and months 12, 18, 24 and 36 patients complete the QoL questionnaires including EORTC QLQ-C30, fear of cancer recurrence inventory (FCRI), and impact of events scale for cancer (IES-C). At every FDG-PET/CT-scans the patients also complete the questionnaire.
Diagnostic test: ctDNA-analysis
Minimally-invasive blood-based analysis of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA).
Other: Intensified Follow-up Schedule
PET/CT-scans every 3. month
No Intervention: Standard Danish follow-up program
Patients will undergo surveillance according to current Danish Guidelines with CT-scans at months 12 and 36 postoperative and colonoscopy every 5 year until age 75. Longitudinal blood samples will be collected at same time-points as in the experimental group but not analyzed until end of trial. At baseline and months 12, 18, 24 and 36 patients complete the QoL questionnaires including EORTC QLQ-C30, fear of cancer recurrence inventory (FCRI), and impact of events scale for cancer (IES-C).

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
FCI
Time Frame: 5 years
Fraction of patients with relapse receiving intended curative resection or local treatment aiming at complete tumor destruction as defined at the relevant MDT conference.
5 years

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
3yr-OS
Time Frame: 3 years
Overall survival at 3 years
3 years
5yr-OS
Time Frame: 5 years
Overall survival at 5 years
5 years
TTCR
Time Frame: 3 years
Time to clinical recurrence
3 years
TTMR
Time Frame: 2 years
Time to molecular recurrence
2 years
QoL
Time Frame: 3 years
Quality of Life by use of EORTC QLQ-C30, version 3.0. The QoL outcome measure is differences in QLQ-C30 score at 12, 24 and 36 months between the experimental and control arm.
3 years
FCRI
Time Frame: 3 years
Fear of Cancer Recurrence Inventory. The FCRI outcome measure is differences in FCRI at 12, 24 and 36 months between the experimental and control arm.
3 years
IES-C
Time Frame: 3 years
Impact of Events Scale Cancer. The IES-C outcome measure is differences in IES-C at 12, 24 and 36 months between the experimental and control arm.
3 years
CE
Time Frame: 5 years
Cost-effectiveness. QoL/Utility weights for the quality-adjusted life years parameter will be QLU-C10D based on EORTC QLQ-C30.
5 years
AR
Time Frame: 3 years
Adherence rate for patients following ctDNA-guided and standard of care surveillance
3 years

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.
Claus Lindbjerg Andersen

Collaborators

Collaborators

An organization other than the sponsor that provides support for a clinical study. This support may include activities related to funding, design, implementation, data analysis, or reporting.
University of Aarhus

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: Claus L Andersen, PhD, Department of Molecular Medicin, Aarhus University Hospital

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.

General Publications

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.
January 1, 2020

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.
June 30, 2028

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.
June 30, 2028

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).
September 4, 2019

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.
September 6, 2019

First Posted (Actual)

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.
September 10, 2019

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.
April 29, 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.
April 28, 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.
April 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.
  • IMPROVE-IT2

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

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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Drug Interventions

Conditions

Rare Diseases

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Dietary Supplements

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