A Phase 2 interventional study of Short-Course Radiotherapy and Fruquintinib in Rectal Neoplasms and Rectal Cancer, Adenocarcinoma, sponsored by Ruijin Hospital. Recruiting at 1 site in China. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 75 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-10-22.
Sponsored by Ruijin Hospital · Phase 2, Interventional, and Treatment
The goal of this randomized controlled clinical trial is to learn if adding fruquintinib to short-course radiotherapy, tislelizumab, and CAPOX can improve neoadjuvant treatment response and is safe for adults with locally advanced low rectal cancer. The main questions it aims to answer are:
Participants will:
Background Locally advanced rectal cancer is cancer of the rectum that has grown deeply into the bowel wall or into nearby tissues or lymph nodes, but has not yet spread to distant organs. When the tumor sits in the lower part of the rectum, the standard operation to remove it can put the muscles that control bowel continence at risk, sometimes requiring a permanent colostomy (a surgical opening of the intestine to the abdominal wall). To reduce this risk, doctors often give treatment before surgery - called neoadjuvant (preoperative) therapy - with the goal of shrinking the tumor, increasing the chance that no cancer remains, and preserving the patient's natural bowel function.
Current neoadjuvant approaches A widely used strategy is short-course radiotherapy (a brief, intensified course of pelvic radiation) followed by chemotherapy, and increasingly by immunotherapy. Radiotherapy and chemotherapy kill cancer cells directly, while immunotherapy helps the patient's own immune system recognize and attack the tumor. Combining all three - radiation, immune-based therapy, and chemotherapy - is an active and promising direction in rectal cancer care.
Why this study is being done Not every patient's tumor responds completely to existing neoadjuvant treatment, and some still require extensive surgery or a permanent stoma. This study tests whether adding a drug called fruquintinib - which starves the tumor by blocking VEGF receptors that fuel its blood supply - to the combination of short-course radiotherapy, the immunotherapy tislelizumab, and the chemotherapy CAPOX, can improve the likelihood that no living cancer cells remain in the tissue removed at surgery. Cutting off a tumor's blood supply may also make immunotherapy and chemotherapy work more effectively.
What participating means People who join this randomized trial are assigned by chance to one of two treatment plans. Both groups receive the same short-course radiotherapy followed by tislelizumab and CAPOX chemotherapy; the experimental group additionally receives fruquintinib. Treatment is given before surgery. After the neoadjuvant phase, standard rectal cancer surgery is performed and the removed specimen is examined for how much cancer remains. Throughout the study, participants have regular imaging, endoscopy, and blood-test assessments and are closely monitored for side effects.
Study aims The central question is whether adding fruquintinib increases the rate of pathological complete response - meaning the surgical specimen shows no remaining viable tumor - and whether the added drug is tolerable. A higher complete-response rate could mean more patients are able to keep their bowel function and avoid a permanent stoma.
Why it matters If the experimental combination proves more effective and acceptable, it could offer a new neoadjuvant option for people with locally advanced low rectal cancer who hope to preserve bowel function. The results will also help show whether blocking a tumor's blood supply alongside immune-based and chemical treatment is a useful strategy in this disease.
1,804 studies on the registry are indexed under Rectal Neoplasms; 520 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 50 is below the median of 66 across 1,330 interventional studies indexed under Rectal Neoplasms.
Browse Rectal Neoplasms studies →Ruijin Hospital is the lead sponsor of 667 studies on the registry; 376 are open to participants now.
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Pelvic MRI shows high-risk features, meeting any one of the following:
Adequate function of major organs, including:
Exclusion Criteria:
Has received or is receiving any of the following treatments:
Radiation: Short-Course Radiotherapy · Drug: Fruquintinib · Drug: Tislelizumab · Drug: CAPOX
Radiation: Short-Course Radiotherapy · Drug: Tislelizumab · Drug: CAPOX
Preoperative pelvic external-beam radiotherapy: 25 Gy in 5 daily fractions over 1 week (short-course, distinct from long-course 50.4 Gy). Given before systemic therapy in both arms.
Oral VEGFR-1/2/3 tyrosine kinase inhibitor, \~5 mg once daily, started after radiotherapy with tislelizumab + CAPOX. Investigational addition in the experimental arm only.
IV anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody, 200 mg every 3 weeks, given after radiotherapy with CAPOX ± fruquintinib per arm.
Oxaliplatin \~130 mg/m2 IV on day 1 + capecitabine \~1000 mg/m2 orally twice daily on days 1-14, every 3 weeks, after radiotherapy
Proportion of participants achieving pathological complete response (pCR; ypT0N0)
pCR is defined as the absence of any viable tumor cells in the primary tumor bed and regional lymph nodes (ypT0N0) in the surgical resection specimen, per AJCC 8th edition TNM and College of American Pathologists (CAP) protocols, determined by blinded central pathology review. Assessed on the total mesorectal excision (TME) specimen after completion of neoadjuvant therapy. Reported as the number and percentage of randomized participants achieving ypT0N0, with 95% confidence intervals (intention-to-treat).
Time frame: At response restaging (rectal MRI, colonoscopy, and MRD) and surgical resection, approximately 11-12 weeks after enrollment
3 years EFS
Time frame: From enrollment to the time (3 years)
Overall Survival
Time from randomization to death from any cause, estimated by Kaplan-Meier method; reported as median OS with 95% confidence interval and the 5-year OS rate.
Time frame: From date of randomization until the date of death from any cause, whichever came first, assessed up to 60 months
R0 resection rate
Time frame: From randomization to surgical resection (approximately 4-6 months)
Objective Response Rate
Time frame: At restaging tumor assessment (rectal MRI) after completion of neoadjuvant therapy, approximately 11-12 weeks after enrollment, prior to surgery
Minimal Residual Disease (MRD) status
Time frame: At restaging tumor assessment (rectal MRI) after completion of neoadjuvant therapy, approximately 11-12 weeks after enrollment, prior to surgery
Proportion of participants achieving organ preservation via Watch-and-Wait (W&W) without definitive surgery
Among participants with clinical complete response (cCR; negative rectal MRI, colonoscopy, and MRD) at restaging approximately 11-12 weeks after enrollment, proportion who entered W\&W and avoided definitive total mesorectal excision/proctectomy through last follow-up. Reported as number and percentage with 95% confidence interval. Unit: proportion (%).
Time frame: Through study completion, assessed up to 24 months after enrollment
Rate of local regrowth during Watch-and-Wait (W&W) surveillance
Among participants managed by W\&W, proportion who develop local regrowth (detected by rectal MRI and/or colonoscopy with biopsy confirmation) during surveillance. Reported as number and percentage with 95% CI. Unit: proportion (%).
Time frame: Through study completion, assessed up to 24 months after enrollment
Relapse-free survival (RFS) in Watch-and-Wait (W&W) participants
Time from randomization to local regrowth, distant metastasis, or death from any cause, whichever came first, estimated by Kaplan-Meier; reported as median RFS with 95% CI. Unit: time (months).
Time frame: From date of randomization until local regrowth, distant metastasis, or death from any cause, whichever came first, assessed up to 36 months
Plan to share: No — Individual participant data are not planned for public sharing. Access to de-identified data may be granted upon reasonable request to the corresponding author, subject to an approved data-sharing agreement and independent ethics committee approval, for the purpose of verifying the study results.
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From the registry record's own update history. This site started tracking changes on Sep 25, 2026; for anything earlier, see the record history on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
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Studies of the drug tested here: HMPL-013