Active clinical trials for "Rectal Neoplasms"

Radiation therapy (RT) is used as an effective local treatment modality to inhibit cell proliferation, induce cell death and suppress tumor growth. To improve the treatment outcome, in terms of both locoregional control and survival, the concurrent use of chemotherapy during radiation therapy (CCRT) is now the standard treatment for various malignancies, especially locally advanced cancers. Among the drugs used to enhance RT effect, 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) is one of the most commonly used chemotherapeutic agents of CCRT. In the past, RT was solely used as a local treatment and its effect was estimated by local effect model. However, growing evidence shows that irradiation has direct DNA damage-dependent effects as well as sending signals to neighboring cells. Recently, we reported that abdominal irradiation could significantly modulate the systemic pharmacokinetics of 5-FU at 0.5 Gy, off-target area in clinical practice, and at 2 Gy, the daily treatment dose for target treatment in an experimental rat model. Additionally, the results from a clinical investigation showed that colorectal cancer patients with lower AUC of 5-FU during adjuvant chemotherapy had lower disease-free survival. Taken together, these lines of evidence support the importance and necessity to search for the mediators responsible for the unexpected effect of local RT on systemic pharmacokinetics of chemotherapeutic agents, such as 5-FU. In the present study, the investigators investigated whether the phenomena and mechanism of RT-PK is a fact for different anticancer drugs in human.

The primary aims of this study is to characterize exosomal biomarker levels in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer undergoing neoadjuvant chemoradiation therapy. Compare rates of exosomal expression before during and after chemoradiation therapy with pathologic response rates at the time of APR or LAR. The researchers will also examine the functionality of these exosomes in malignant colonic organoids and mouse models of colorectal cancer.

Local percutaneous thermal ablation is frequently proposed in the management of metastatic diseases. Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) has demonstrated good results when the metastatic disease is limited and slowly evolving. The destruction of solid metastasis by RF leads to inflammatory and immunological mechanisms that remain poorly understood. These pathological events may influence the overall and anti-tumor host immune responses. The purpose of the study is to identify and quantify some immune mechanisms triggered by RFA of pulmonary metastases from colorectal cancer origin.

The MA-PPING is a multicenter prospective observational study that includes patients undergoing surgery for gastrointestinal cancer. The study aims to map the oral and gut microbiome of patients diagnosed with pancreatic, esophageal or colorectal cancer during their surgical patient journey from the moment of diagnosis until full recovery (three months after surgery).

Background. About 20% of rectal cancers who underwent neoadjuvant treatment (neoCHT-RT) achieve a pathological complete response in the surgical specimen(ypT0); however, about 10% of ypT0 present metastatic nodes (N+). Although seldom analyzed, ypT0N+ identification could be crucial in order to tailor treatments. Hypotheses. The two hypotheses to test are if we can identify ypT0N+ and if N+ is an independent prognostic factor. Aim 1. To create a large Database (DB) of ypT0. Aim 2. To compare ypT0N0 vs ypT0N+ with respect of their clinical/radiological/molecular features. Aim 3. To investigate long term results. Preliminary Study. Dr Lorenzon is the PI of an Italian retrospective multicentric study conducted on 260 ypT0 focused on treatment and outcomes. Design. The PI will operate in partnership with the European Society of Surgical Oncology (ESSO). A DB will be used by ESSO-affiliated centres for collecting the clinical, pathological and radiological data of ypT0N0/N+, previously treated (last 5 years) and prospectively enrolled (6 months + 2 years of follow-up); each centre will provide a junior (<40 yrs) member for data collection and a senior investigator .for data validation; all the analyses will be centralized by the PI. ypT0N0 and ypT0N+ will be compared for the clinical/pathological variables, for the gene expression profiles of pre-neoCHT-RT biopsies (grant requested). Uni-multivariate survival analyses (end-points: OS, DFS, DSS) will be conducted at 2 years of follow-up. Impact. This is the first study aimed to investigate ypT0N+ features; their accurate identification could lead to treat safely thousands of ypT0N0/year with local excisions leaving major surgery for N+ patients. Results will change practice and reduce considerably health-related costs; moreover, the molecular profiles will open new frontiers of research.

At present, surgical resection is still the main treatment for the potential cure of rectal cancer. Total mesorectal excision (TME) is the gold standard. The traditional laparoscopic or open surgery for some special patients is really difficult, especially for male, prostate hypertrophy, obesity, low tumor and pelvic stenosis patients to expose the gap around the mesorectum and separate to the pelvic floor. While transanal total mesorectal excision (TaTME) approach could be more directly separate the low mesorectum and relatively simple to complete distal rectal transection, which would bring some considerable advantages. Although active learning from abroad, laparoscopic assisted TaTME surgery is now in its infancy in China. It is urgent for clinical studies to obtain the results in China. This multicenter, observational study will help to encourage research in this field and to obtain data on the safety and efficacy of this procedure in Chinese patients with rectal cancer.

Analyze the occurrence of complications, rectal function and quality of life after anus-preserving surgery for middle and low rectal cancer, so as to evaluate the role of protective ileostomy.

This trial was designed to to study whether there is a difference in MRI image evaluation between NCRT and NCT, and try to build a model to predict the efficacy of neoadjuvant therapy by combining multiple imaging indexes.

Rectal cancer is a frequent but curable malignancy in the Western world. The golden standard in treating these patients consists of neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (CRT) followed by extensive surgery regardless of tumor response. The main question is whether extensive surgery can be avoided holding in mind that already a significant amount of patients reach a pathological complete response after radiochemotherapy. The goal of this study is dual. First of all, the investigators want to investigate the value of DW-MRI and 18FDG-PET in the assessment of response after neoadjuvant CRT in 100 patients with rectal cancer, to select those patients eligible for less invasive surgery. In the same patient group, the investigators will examine the biomarker potential of molecular characteristics of the tumor in blood and tissue. Using both molecular and radiological findings, the investigators want to predict pathological response after chemoradiotherapy and to select patients who may benefit from treatment adjustments during chemoradiotherapy.

The purpose of this study is: To compare the long-term of survival and local/regional control between the two postoperative concurrent chemoradiotherapy regimens: capecitabine vs. oxaliplatin and capecitabine,for stage II and III rectal cancer To compare the toxicity profile between the two different concurrent chemoradiotherapy regimens.