Rifaximin and Placebo in the Treatment of Bowel Dysfunction After Anterior Resection for Rectal Cancer

Rectal Cancer Clinical Trial

Official title:

Randomized Control Trial Comparing Rifaximin and Placebo in the Treatment of Bowel Dysfunction After Anterior Resection for Rectal Cancer

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT01345175
• Other study ID #: 11-045
• Status: Completed
• Phase: Phase 3
• Start date: April 26, 2011
• Est. completion date: March 23, 2023

Study information

• Verified date: March 2023
• Source: Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

The most common long-term problems after rectal surgery are bowel problems. These problems can include needing to pass bowel movements a lot, loose or mushy stools, inability to fully clear your bowels, and/or poor control of gas and stool. The investigators believe that a major cause of these problems is too much bacteria in the bowel and treatment with antibiotic tablets will hopefully help improve these bowel problems. In order to test this idea, the Colorectal Surgery Service of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center is sponsoring a clinical trial. This trial will compare the antibiotic rifaximin and a placebo (a harmless tablet that has no effect) in the treatment of these bowel problems. Following this we will attempt to see if another antibiotic metronidazole also helps to treat these bowel problems. Both Metronidazole and rifaximin are well established drugs that have minimal side effects.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 69
• Est. completion date: March 23, 2023
• Est. primary completion date: March 23, 2023
• Accepts healthy volunteers: No
• Gender: All
• Age group: 21 Years and older

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patients with a history of rectal cancer treated with an anterior resection preformed at MSKCC (tumor at or below 12cm from anal verge) with restoration of bowel continuity =1 and = 5 years. (Patients may also have had procedures to construct neo-rectums including j-pouch, coloplasty, and end to side anastomosis).

• Patients = 21 years of age.

• Presence of anterior resection symptoms by patients own assessment. These symptoms may include any of the following: incomplete evacuation, clustering of bowel motions, frequency of bowel motions, unformed stool, excessive flatus, or incontinence of flatus and/or feces.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Local recurrence of rectal cancer.

• Antibiotic treatment within the last 4 weeks for any condition.

• Pregnancy or breast feeding.

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Intestinal Diseases
• Rectal Cancer
• Rectal Neoplasms

Intervention

Drug:
• Rifaximin
Pt will receive rifaximin 400mg bid for 4 weeks. Patients will at this stage on a volunteer basis be asked to submit stool samples and undertake a breath test. Patients will receive the respective treatment for four weeks. Following cessation of treatment all patients will be assessed using the BFI and respective patients will have repeat stool sampling and breath testing. Patients will then have these tests repeated 4 weeks later. This corresponds to 8 weeks after the start of the trial. For those patients not undertaking stool and breath testing, they will be reminded by phone, mail or email to fill out the BFI. Before and during the trial patients will be asked to fill out a weekly stool diary to evaluate trends on bowel function.
• Placebo
Pt will receive placebo bid for 4 weeks. Patients will at this stage on a volunteer basis be asked to submit stool samples and undertake a breath test. Patients will receive the respective treatment for four weeks. Following cessation of treatment all patients will be assessed using the BFI and respective patients will have repeat stool sampling and breath testing. Patients will then have these tests repeated 4 weeks later. This corresponds to 8 weeks after the start of the trial. For those patients not undertaking stool and breath testing, they will be reminded by phone, mail or email to fill out the BFI. Before and during the trial patients will be asked to fill out a weekly stool diary to evaluate trends on bowel function.

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
United States	Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center at Basking Ridge	Basking Ridge	New Jersey
United States	Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Commack	Commack	New York
United States	Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center	New York	New York

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Country where clinical trial is conducted

United States, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Number of Participants Who Completed MSKCC Bowel Function Instrument (BFI Score) in Patients Following Anterior Resection (AR) or Sphincter Preserving Surgery (SPS) for Rectal Cancer.		1 year
Secondary	To Determine if Reduction in Intestinal Bacterial Quantity Correlates With Improvement in Bowel Symptoms (BFI Score).		1 year
Secondary	To Explore the Bacterial Composition of Stool Before and After Antibiotic Treatment.		1 year
Secondary	To Identify Dynamic Changes in Bowel Function During and After Antibiotic Treatment Using a Bowel Function Log.		1 year
Secondary	Efficacy of Metronidazole	in the treatment of bowel dysfunction as measured by the MSKCC BFI in patients following AR or SPS for rectal cancer for patients who have no improvement following treatment with rifaximin or placebo.	1 year

External Links

•   Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center