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RecruitingNCT07281768Updated Jul 21, 2026

Capecitabine/Oxaliplatin Chemotherapy and Cemiplimab With or Without Fianlimab or REGN7075 in Locally Advanced Rectal Cancer

A Phase 2 interventional study of Oxaliplatin and Capecitabine in Colorectal Cancer, sponsored by Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins. Recruiting at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-07-21.

Sponsored by Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins · Phase 2, Interventional, and Treatment

From the registry’s dates

  • Started Jul 2026; still recruiting 2 months later.
Phase
Phase 2
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
66
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the safety and clinical activity of combining cemiplimab, cemiplimab/fianlimab, or cemiplimab/REGN7075 with capecitabine/oxaliplatin (CAPOX) for the neoadjuvant treatment of patients with microsatellite stable (MSS) locally advanced rectal cancer (T2 node-positive, T3 node-negative, T3 node-positive).

02

Conditions studied

  • Colorectal Cancer

Keywords

  • Rectal Cancer
  • Cemiplimab
  • Fianlimab
  • REGEN7075
  • Oxaliplatin
  • Capecitabine
  • Immunotherapy
  • Anti-PD-1 (Programmed Death-Ligand 1)(protein immune checkpoint)
  • PD-L1 (Programmed Death-Ligand 1)(protein immune checkpoint)
  • Adenocarcinoma
  • Carcinoma
  • CAPOX
  • Chemotherapy
03

In context

Colorectal Neoplasms

5,599 studies on the registry are indexed under Colorectal Neoplasms; 1,459 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 66 is below the median of 77 across 4,123 interventional studies indexed under Colorectal Neoplasms.

Browse Colorectal Neoplasms studies →

Lead sponsor

Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins is the lead sponsor of 572 studies on the registry; 73 are open to participants now.

Of its 111 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 67 (60%) have results posted.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years and older
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

  • Age ≥18 years.
  • Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status 0 - 1.
  • Rectal cancer (with tumor tissue present at or below the peritoneal reflection) as determined by MRI pelvis or endoscopic ultrasound.
  • Have histologically proven mismatch repair proficient (pMMR) or microsatellite stable (MSS) rectal adenocarcinoma.
  • Must not have received any prior systemic treatment or radiation.
  • Candidate for sphincter-sparing surgical resection after neoadjuvant therapy according to the primary surgeon.
  • Patients have the following clinical staging:

    • cT2 node-positive:
    • T: Tumor is invading the muscularis propria but has not grown through it to the serosa
    • N: At least 1 perirectal lymph node ≥5 mm and no more than 4 perirectal lymph nodes >10 mm in short axis
    • M: No evidence of metastasis
    • cT3 node-negative
    • T: Tumor has grown through the muscularis propria into the serosa but has not invaded nearby organs
    • N: No perirectal lymph nodes ≥ 5 mm in size that suggest tumor involvement
    • M: No evidence of metastasis
    • cT3 node-positive
    • T: Tumor has grown through the muscularis propria into the serosa but has not invaded nearby organs
    • N: At least 1 perirectal lymph node ≥ 5 mm and no more than 4 perirectal lymph nodes > 10 mm in size in short axis
    • M: No evidence of metastasis
  • Absence of distant metastases on CT or MRI imaging
  • Patients must have adequate organ and marrow function defined by study-specified laboratory tests and procedures.
  • LVEF assessment with documented LVEF ≥ 50% by either TTE or MUGA (TTE preferred) within 6 months from first study drug administration.
  • For both Women and Men, must use acceptable form of birth control while on study.
  • Ability to understand and willingness to sign a written informed consent document.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Have received an investigational agent or used an investigational device within 28 days of the first dose of study drug.
  • Have expected to require any other form of systemic or localized antineoplastic therapy while on study.
  • Have had surgery within 28 days of dosing of investigational agent, excluding minor procedures (dental work, skin biopsy, etc.).
  • History of prior treatment with an anti-PD-1, anti-PD-L1, anti-PD-L2, anti-CTLA4, or anti-Lag-3 antibodies for any reason.
  • Currently using any chronic systemic steroids.
  • History of severe hypersensitivity reaction to any monoclonal antibody.
  • History of encephalitis, meningitis, dementia, Parkinson's or uncontrolled seizures within 1 year prior to the first dose of study drug.
  • Uncontrolled infection of HIV, HBV, HCV, or Tuberculosis.
  • Uncontrolled intercurrent illness including, but not limited to, uncontrolled infection, symptomatic congestive heart failure, unstable angina, cardiac arrhythmia, metastatic cancer, or psychiatric illness/social situations that would limit compliance with study requirements.
  • Active autoimmune disease.
  • Any tissue or organ allograft, regardless of need for immunosuppression, including corneal allograft.
  • Patient has a pulse oximetry of \<92% on room air.
  • Patient is on supplemental home oxygen.
  • Has clinically significant heart disease.
  • Troponin T (TnT) or troponin I (TnI) > 2x institutional ULN at baseline.
  • Conditions, including alcohol or drug dependence, intercurrent illness, or lack of sufficient peripheral venous access, that would affect the patient's ability to comply with study visits and procedures.
  • Patient is pregnant or breastfeeding.
  • Unwilling or unable to follow the study schedule for any reason.
  • Patient received a live vaccine within 30 days of planned start of study medication.
  • Receipt of COVID-19 vaccination within 1 week of planned start of study medication or for which the planned COVID-19 vaccinations would not be completed 1 week prior to start of study medication.
  • Patients with T4 disease or N2 disease (as defined by >/= 4 lymph nodes, each greater or equal to 10 mm in short axis).
  • Evidence that the tumor is adjacent to (defined as within 3 mm of) the mesorectal fascia on pre-operative MRI or endorectal ultrasound or pelvic CT scan.
  • Patients with symptomatic untreated bowel obstruction due to rectal cancer.
05

Study design

Phase
Phase 2
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
66 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Arm A (Oxaliplatin, Capecitabine, Cemiplimab)

    Drug: Oxaliplatin · Drug: Capecitabine · Drug: Cemiplimab

  • Experimental
    Arm B (Oxaliplatin, Capecitabine, Cemiplimab, Fianlimab)

    Drug: Oxaliplatin · Drug: Capecitabine · Drug: Cemiplimab · Drug: Fianlimab

  • Experimental
    Arm C (Oxaliplatin, Capecitabine, Cemiplimab, REGN7075)

    Drug: Oxaliplatin · Drug: Capecitabine · Drug: Cemiplimab · Drug: REGN7075

Interventions

  • DrugOxaliplatin

    Patients will receive Oxaliplatin (130mg/m\^2 administered IV) on Day 1 of each 21 day cycle for a total of 4 cycles of treatment.

  • DrugCapecitabine

    Patients will receive Capecitabine (1000mg/m\^2 administered orally) on Days 1 through 14 of each 21 day cycle for a total of 4 cycles of treatment.

    Also known as: Xeloda

  • DrugCemiplimab

    Patients will receive Cemiplimab (350 mg administered IV) on Day 1 of each 21 day cycle for a total of 4 cycles of treatment.

    Also known as: REGN2810, LIBTAYO

  • DrugFianlimab

    Patients will receive Fianlimab (1600 mg administered IV) on Day 1 of each 21 day cycle for a total of 4 cycles of treatment.

    Also known as: REGN3767

  • DrugREGN7075

    Patients will receive REGN7075 (2700 mg administered IV) on Day 1 of each 21 day cycle for a total of 4 cycles of treatment.

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Pathologic complete response (pCR) rate

    Proportion of subjects with a pathologic complete response (pCR) at the time of surgery. pCR is defined as subjects with no viable tumor cell noted on pathological evaluation of the resection specimen using the College of American Pathologists (CAP) tumor regression scoring system (CAP tumor regression score of 0).

    Time frame: 24 months

Secondary outcomes

  1. Number of participants experiencing grade 3 or above drug-related toxicities

    When calculating the incidence of Adverse Events (AEs), each AE (as defined by NCI CTCAE v6.0) will be counted only once for a given subject.

    Time frame: 12 weeks

  2. Pathologic Response Rate

    Pathologic response rate as defined as the proportion of subjects with complete or partial tumor regression at the time of surgery using the College of American Pathologists (CAP) tumor regression scoring system (CAP tumor regression score of 0 to 2).

    Time frame: 24 months

  3. Event-free Survival (EFS)

    EFS is defined as the number of months from the date of initiation of neoadjuvant treatment to disease relapse or development of metastatic disease (as assessed using RECIST 1.1 criteria) or death due to any cause. EFS will be censored at the date of the last scan for subjects without documentation of disease progression at the time of analysis.

    Time frame: 24 months

  4. Composite Complete Response Rate

    Composite complete response rate is defined as the proportion of subjects with either a pathologic complete response (pCR) or those that remain disease-free for 24 months on radiographic imaging and endoscopic evaluation for those that elected to not go to surgery. pCR is defined as subjects with no viable tumor cell noted on pathological evaluation of the resection specimen using the College of American Pathologists (CAP) tumor regression scoring system (CAP tumor regression score of 0).

    Time frame: 24 months

07

Study locations

1 of 1 sites recruiting
  • Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center
    Baltimore, Maryland 21287, United States
    • Colleen Apostol, RN · Contact · GIClinicalTrials@jhmi.edu · 410-614-3644
    • Eric Christenson, MD · Principal investigator
    • Valerie Lee, MD · Principal investigator
    Recruiting
08

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

09

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Jul 21, 2026, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT07281768
Lead sponsor
Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins
Collaborators
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Dec 15, 2025
Start date
Jul 14, 2026
Primary completion
Jul 2030 (estimated)
Completion
Jul 2030 (estimated)
Last update
Jul 21, 2026

Study contacts

Colleen Apostol, RN
Contact
GIClinicalTrials@jhmi.edu
410-614-3644
Eric Christenson, MD
principal investigator · Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center
Valerie Lee, MD
principal investigator · Sibley Memorial Hospital

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
Yes
FDA-regulated drug
Yes
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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