The goal of this phase 2 study is to learn about the efficacy and safety of short-course radiotherapy (SCRT) sequential Penpulimab in combination with CAPEOX in the neoadjuvant treatment of microsatellite stable (MSS) locally advanced rectal cancer. The main question it aims to answer is the role of immune checkpoint inhibitors in the neoadjuvant treatment of MSS rectal cancer. Participants will receive neoadjuvant treatment of SCRT sequential Penpulimab in combination with CAPEOX. Participants will undergo a clinical re-staging assessment at the end of neoadjuvant therapy to determine whether to adopt a watch-and-wait strategy or undergo radical surgery.
Today there has been an outbreak progress in immunotherapy for tumors, where immune checkpoint inhibitors targeting PD-1/PD-L1 have been approved for the treatment of a variety of tumors, bringing long-term benefits to some patients, especially colorectal cancer and other solid tumors with dMMR/MSI-H have been identified as the best indication population for immunotherapy. However, the majority of patients presented with microsatellite stable (MSS) or pMMR status had a low response rate to immunotherapy. How to improve the response to immunotherapy in these patients has been a challenge in the field of colorectal cancer immunotherapy. A number of preclinical and small clinical studies have identified immunotherapy in combination with other treatments such as chemotherapy, radiotherapy, anti-angiogenic drugs and targeted therapies as potentially viable options to overcome immune resistance and improve the outcome of MSS colorectal cancer. Preclinical and small clinical studies have demonstrated that radiotherapy may induce antigen release from tumors with low neoantigen load and activate dendritic cells, thereby activating CD8+ T lymphocyte-mediated anti-cancer immune responses. In patients with locally advanced rectal cancer, neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy can increase PD-L1 expression in tumor cells, suggesting that the combination of radiotherapy and PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors may have a synergistic effect. To further improve the treatment outcomes of locally advanced rectal cancer, we designed an exploratory observational study to observe the efficacy and safety of a regimen of short-course radiotherapy combined with chemotherapy and the addition of the PD-1 monoclonal antibody in locally advanced rectal cancer, and to initially explore the feasibility a watch-and-wait strategy for patients with rectal cancer who have reached pCR.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
NA
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
55
5×5Gy in Week 1
Apply once in the first week, then every 3 weeks from the third week for four cycles
Apply every 3 weeks from week 3 for 4 cycles
Patient will receive radical rectal cancer surgery
Ruijin Hospital affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine
Shanghai, None Selected, China
RECRUITINGPathological complete remission rate (pCR)
The proportion of complete remissions detected by postoperative pathological examination (%)
Time frame: One month after surgery
Clinical complete remission rate (cCR)
The proportion of complete remissions detected by imaging, endoscopy and digital rectal examination (%)
Time frame: Three weeks after neoadjuvant therapy
Objective response rate (ORR)
Sum of proportion in complete and partial remission (%)
Time frame: One month after surgery
3-year disease free survival rate (3y-DFS)
3-year disease free survival rate estimated based on Kaplan-Meier method
Time frame: 36 months after surgery
R0 resection rate
Histologically complete resection rate (%)
Time frame: One month after surgery
Sphincter preservation rate
The proportion of low rectal cancer patients retaining the sphincter in radical surgery (%)
Time frame: One month after surgery
Early morbidity rate
Morbidity rate 30 days after surgery (%)
Time frame: 30 days after surgery
Number and severity of adverse events
Number and severity of adverse events using CTCAE V5.0
Time frame: 36 months after surgery
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