Short Course Radiation Therapy Followed by Pre-operative Chemotherapy and Surgery in High-risk Rectal Cancer (LARCT-US)

Phase II of Short Course Radiation Therapy Followed by Pre-operative Chemotherapy and Surgery in Primary High-risk Rectal Cancer

Patients with a primary rectal cancer without detectable distant metastasis who after locoregional therapy only, meaning preoperative radio(chemo)therapy plus surgery have at least a 40% risk of not having a CRM negative resection or a recurrence, local or distant, within three years will be treated with the short course 5 x 5 Gy radiation scheme followed by four cycles of combination chemotherapy (capecitabine and oxaliplatin) and TME surgery

Study Overview

• Status: Active, not recruiting
• Conditions: Rectal Cancer
• Intervention / Treatment: Combination product: radiotherapy, capecitabine, oxaliplatin

Detailed Description

The multicentre, multinational RAPIDO (Rectal cancer And Pre-operative Induction therapy followed by Dedicated Operation, EudraCT number 2010-023957-12) closed patient entry in June 2016 after having randomised the planned number of 920 patients. In the study, patients were randomised to conventional chemoradiotherapy (CRT) to 50 Gy with capecitabine followed by surgery or to short-course radiotherapy (scRT, 5 x 5 Gy), 6 cycles of oxaliplatin-capecitabine (CAPOX) followed by surgery. In the CRT arm, adjuvant chemotherapy with 8 cycles of CAPOX was optional. At the time of closure of the RAPIDO study, it was discussed in Uppsala whether CRT should be the reference treatment for these high-risk rectal cancers, the experimental treatment or an alternative. Influenced by a Polish study reported by Bujko et al in 2016 with a similar design comparing CRT with scRT followed by 3 cycles of FOLFOX), it was decided that the reference treatment for patient with primary rectal cancer at high risk of failing either locally or systemically should be scRT followed by 4 cycles of CAPOX and surgery. This regimen, identical to the experimental arm in a Chinese trial (Stellar trial (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02533271), preliminarily revealing promising pCR rates has since then been the reference treatment for patients having the same inclusion criteria as in the RAPIDO trial. Other centres in Sweden have also decided to use this regimen as reference treatment. A formal protocol is written and approved.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 280
• Phase: Phase 2

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Bengt Glimelius, MD, PhD; Phone Number: +46 70 6112432; Email: bengt.glimelius@igp.uu.se

Study Locations

• Sweden
  • Uppsala, Sweden, S-75185
    • Akademiska Sjukhuset

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• • Histological proof of newly diagnosed primary adenocarcinoma of the rectum

  • Locally advanced tumour fulfilling at least one of the following criteria on pelvic MRI indicating high risk of failing locally and/or systemically (T4b, i.e. overgrowth to an adjacent organ or structure like the prostate, urinary bladder, uterus, sacrum, pelvic floor or side-wall (according to TNM version 7), cT4a, i.e. peritoneal involvement, extramural vascular invasion (EMVI+). N2, i.e. four or more lymph nodes in the mesorectum showing morphological signs on MRI indicating metastatic disease. Four or more nodes, whether enlarged or not, with a rounded, homogeneous appearance is thus not sufficient. Positive MRF, i.e. tumour or lymph node < 1 mm from the mesorectal fascia. Enlarged lateral nodes, > 1 cm (lat LN+).

Exclusion Criteria:

• Extensive growth into cranial part of the sacrum (above S3) or the lumbosacral nerve roots indicating that surgery will never be possible even if substantial tumour down-sizing is seen.
• Presence of metastatic disease or recurrent rectal tumour. Familial Adenomatosis Polyposis coli (FAP), Hereditary Non-Polyposis Colorectal Cancer (HNPCC), active Crohn's disease or active ulcerative Colitis.
• Concomitant malignancies, except for adequately treated basocellular carcinoma of the skin or in situ carcinoma of the cervix uteri. Subjects with prior malignancies must be disease-free for at least 5 years.
• Known DPD deficiency.
• Any contraindications to MRI (e.g. patients with pacemakers).
• Medical or psychiatric conditions that compromise the patient's ability to give informed consent.
• Concurrent uncontrolled medical conditions.
• Any investigational treatment for rectal cancer within the past month.
• Pregnancy or breast feeding.
• Patients with known malabsorption syndromes or a lack of physical integrity of the upper gastrointestinal tract.
• Clinically significant (i.e. active) cardiac disease (e.g. congestive heart failure, symptomatic coronary artery disease and cardiac dysrhythmia, e.g. atrial fibrillation, even if controlled with medication) or myocardial infarction within the past 12 months.
• Patients with symptoms of peripheral neuropathy.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: LARCT-US; Short Course Radiation Therapy (5 x 5 Gy in 1 week, scRT) followed by 4 cycles of Pre-operative Chemotherapy using capecitabine and oxaliplatin (CAPOX) and Surgery in High-risk Rectal Cancer	Combination product: radiotherapy, capecitabine, oxaliplatin; 5x5 Gy radiotherapy in 1 week, 4 cycles of CAPOX (capecitabine 1000 mg/m2 x2 d 1-14, oxaliplatin 130 mg/m2 d 1 every third week), surgery

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Pathological complete response (pCR) rate and clinical complete response (cCR) rate	pCR assessed at pathological examination of the surgical specimen, cCR at clinical and radiological (MRI) examination	pCR assessed directly after surgery and cCR 12 months after end of treatment if no surgery is performed (cCR)]

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Disease-free survival	non-radical surgery, recurrence or death within 3 years	3 years
Neoadjuvant rectal score (NAR score)	Score from 0 - 100, where 0 is best	After surgery when the patological examination of the surgical specimen is completed
Incidence of Treatment-Emergent Adverse Events	CTCAE v 4.0	within 60 days after end of treatment
Long-term Adverse Events	CTCAE v 4.0	4 years after end of treatment

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Uppsala University
• Collaborators: Swedish Cancer Society
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Bengt Glimelius, MD,PhD, Uppsala University

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Nilsson PJ, van Etten B, Hospers GA, Pahlman L, van de Velde CJ, Beets-Tan RG, Blomqvist L, Beukema JC, Kapiteijn E, Marijnen CA, Nagtegaal ID, Wiggers T, Glimelius B. Short-course radiotherapy followed by neo-adjuvant chemotherapy in locally advanced rectal cancer--the RAPIDO trial. BMC Cancer. 2013 Jun 7;13:279. doi: 10.1186/1471-2407-13-279.
• Bujko K, Wyrwicz L, Rutkowski A, Malinowska M, Pietrzak L, Krynski J, Michalski W, Oledzki J, Kusnierz J, Zajac L, Bednarczyk M, Szczepkowski M, Tarnowski W, Kosakowska E, Zwolinski J, Winiarek M, Wisniowska K, Partycki M, Beczkowska K, Polkowski W, Stylinski R, Wierzbicki R, Bury P, Jankiewicz M, Paprota K, Lewicka M, Cisel B, Skorzewska M, Mielko J, Bebenek M, Maciejczyk A, Kapturkiewicz B, Dybko A, Hajac L, Wojnar A, Lesniak T, Zygulska J, Jantner D, Chudyba E, Zegarski W, Las-Jankowska M, Jankowski M, Kolodziejski L, Radkowski A, Zelazowska-Omiotek U, Czeremszynska B, Kepka L, Kolb-Sielecki J, Toczko Z, Fedorowicz Z, Dziki A, Danek A, Nawrocki G, Sopylo R, Markiewicz W, Kedzierawski P, Wydmanski J; Polish Colorectal Study Group. Long-course oxaliplatin-based preoperative chemoradiation versus 5 x 5 Gy and consolidation chemotherapy for cT4 or fixed cT3 rectal cancer: results of a randomized phase III study. Ann Oncol. 2016 May;27(5):834-42. doi: 10.1093/annonc/mdw062. Epub 2016 Feb 15.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): July 4, 2016
• Primary Completion (Actual): May 30, 2020
• Study Completion (Estimated): June 30, 2025

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: October 10, 2018
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 31, 2018
• First Posted (Actual): November 5, 2018

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): November 30, 2023
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 29, 2023
• Last Verified: November 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: rectal cancer; total neoadjuvant treatment; high risk
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Digestive System Diseases; Neoplasms; Neoplasms by Site; Gastrointestinal Neoplasms; Digestive System Neoplasms; Gastrointestinal Diseases; Intestinal Diseases; Intestinal Neoplasms; Rectal Diseases; Colorectal Neoplasms; Rectal Neoplasms; Molecular Mechanisms of Pharmacological Action; Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic; Antimetabolites; Antineoplastic Agents; Capecitabine; Oxaliplatin
• Other Study ID Numbers: LARCT-US v1.3

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
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No