Affiliation:
1. Department of Gastroenterological Surgery Osaka General Medical Center Osaka Japan
2. Department of Surgery, Gastroenterological Center Yokohama City University Medical Center Yokohama Japan
3. Department of Gastroenterological Surgery Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University Suita Japan
4. Department of Surgery and Science, Graduate School of Medical Sciences Kyushu University Fukuoka Japan
5. Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health The University of Tokyo Tokyo Japan
6. Department of Surgery, Surgical Oncology and Science Sapporo Medical University Sapporo Japan
Abstract
AbstractAimTo evaluate the feasibility and safety of total neoadjuvant therapy (TNT) in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC) in Japan.MethodsThis prospective, multicenter, open‐label, single‐arm phase II trial was conducted at five institutions. The key eligibility criteria were age ≥ 20 years, LARC within 12 cm from the anal verge, and cT3‐4N0M0 or TanyN+M0 at the time of diagnosis that enabled curative resection. Preoperative short‐course radiation therapy (SCRT) 5 Gy × 5 days (total 25 Gy) + CAPOX (six courses) followed by total mesorectum excision (TME) was the treatment protocol. Non‐operative management (NOM) was allowed if clinical complete response (cCR) was obtained in the preoperative evaluation. The primary endpoint was the pathological complete response (pCR) rate.ResultsThirty patients (male, n = 26; female, n = 4; median age, 62.5 [44–74] years; cT [T2, n = 1; T3, n = 25; T4, n = 4]; cN [N0, n = 13; N1, n = 13; N2, n = 4]) were enrolled. The final analysis included 30 patients in total. The completion rates were 100% for SCRT and 83% for CAPOX. TME and NOM were performed in 20 and seven patients, respectively. pCR was observed in six patients (30% [95% CI 14.0%–50.8%]). The primary endpoint was met. pCR+cCR was observed in 13 (43.3%) patients. There were no treatment‐related deaths. Grade ≥3 (CTCAE ver. 5.0) adverse events (≥20%), including diarrhea (23.3%) and neutropenia (23.3%). The median follow‐up period was 15.6 (10.5–22.8) months, with no recurrence or regrowth in NOM.ConclusionsENSEMBLE‐1 demonstrated satisfactory pCR and cCR, and well‐tolerated safety of TNT for patients with LARC in Japan.