Short RT Versus RCT,Followed by Chemo.and Organ Preservation for Interm and High-risk Rectal Cancer Patients

Rectal Cancer Stage III Clinical Trial

Official title: Short-course Radiotherapy Versus Chemoradiotherapy, Followed by Consolidation Chemotherapy, and Selective Organ Preservation for MRI-defined Intermediate and High-risk Rectal Cancer Patients

Status Active, not recruiting

Clinical Trial Summary

The hereby proposed ACO/ARO/AIO-18.1 randomized trial aims to directly compare the newly established TNT concepts applying either short-course RT according to RAPIDO, or CRT according to CAO/ARO/AIO-04/-12, both followed by consolidation chemotherapy, and surgery or a watch&wait (W&W) approach for patients with clinical complete response (cCR).

The ACO/ARO/AIO-18.1 study incorporates several novel and innovative aspects to further optimize multimodal rectal cancer treatment, partly established by our preceding CAO/ARO/AIO-04 and CAO/ARO/AIO-12 randomized trials: (1) patient selection is based on strict, quality controlled MRI features of intermediate and high-risk characteristics (and, thus, complementary to our ACO/ARO/AIO-18.2 trial in "low-risk" rectal cancer), (2) the CRT regimens incorporates 5-FU/oxaliplatin with doses and intensities shown to be effective and well-tolerated without compromising treatment compliance in CAO/ARO/AIO-04, (3) the sequence of CRT, CT, and surgery/W&W adopts the TNT approach as established by our CAO/ARO/AIO-12 and OPRA trial, (4) surgical stratification allows for W&W management for strictly selected patients with clinical complete response (cCR). Thus, we hypothesize that TNT with 5-FU/oxaliplatin-CRT followed by consolidation chemotherapy may increase organ preservation while maintaining DFS as compared to RAPIDO-like short-course RT followed by consolidation chemotherapy.

Clinical Trial Description

The primary endpoint of this trial, organ preservation, is defined as follows: survival with rectum intact, no major surgery, no stoma. Accordingly, the primary endpoint, organ preservation, will not be reached if any of the following occurs: (1) death, (2) any major surgery other than local excision (R0) performed after randomization, during TNT, at re-staging scheduled 22-24 weeks after start of TNT due to clinical non-cCR, or for any locoregional regrowth after initial cCR requiring salvage-TME, (3) any locoregional regrowth not amenable to salvage surgery, or (4) any stoma (non-re-converted protective stoma within 6 months after completion of TNT, or any stoma needed for toxicity or poor function), whichever occurs first. We hypothesized that the 3-year organ preservation rate will improve from 30% in the control arm to 40% in the investigational arm (hazard ratio of 0.76). With a power of 90% and a two-sided type I error of 5%, the sample size required to obtain a statistically significant difference is 702 patients (564 events) in total. ;

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Rectal Cancer Stage III
• Rectal Neoplasms

• NCT number: NCT04246684
• Study type: Interventional
• Source: Goethe University
• Status: Active, not recruiting
• Phase: Phase 3
• Start date: October 15, 2020
• Completion date: October 14, 2028