ClinicalTrials.gg
RecruitingNCT07888309TRIP-FASTUpdated Oct 22, 2026

SCRT + Fruquintinib + Tislelizumab + CAPOX Versus SCRT + Tislelizumab + CAPOX as Neoadjuvant Therapy for Locally Advanced Low Rectal Cancer

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

From the registry’s dates

  • Registered 1 year after the study started (first participant enrolled Sep 2025, registered Sep 2026).
  • Started Sep 2025; still recruiting 1 year 1 month later.
Updated Oct 22, 2026Newly registeredGo to Updates ↓
Phase
Phase 2
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
50
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years to 75 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

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:

  • Does adding fruquintinib increase the pathological complete response (pCR) rate after neoadjuvant therapy?
  • What adverse events do participants experience when fruquintinib is added to the regimen? Researchers will compare short-course radiotherapy followed by fruquintinib + tislelizumab + CAPOX with short-course radiotherapy followed by tislelizumab + CAPOX to see if adding fruquintinib improves the tumor response to neoadjuvant treatment.

Participants will:

  • Receive short-course radiotherapy (e.g., 25 Gy in 5 daily fractions over 1 week)
  • Receive either fruquintinib + tislelizumab + CAPOX (experimental arm) or tislelizumab + CAPOX (control arm) for the neoadjuvant cycles
  • Attend scheduled visits for tumor assessment (MRI, endoscopy, CT), blood tests, and adverse-event monitoring
  • Undergo total mesorectal excision (TME) surgery after neoadjuvant treatment and have the specimen evaluated for pathological response
Read the detailed description

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.

02

Conditions studied

  • Rectal Neoplasms
  • Rectal Cancer, Adenocarcinoma

Browse trials for

Keywords

  • Short-course radiotherapy
  • Fruquintinib
  • Tislelizumab
  • CAPOX
  • Neoadjuvant therapy
  • Locally advanced low rectal cancer
  • Pathological complete response
03

In context

Rectal Neoplasms

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 →

Lead sponsor

Ruijin Hospital is the lead sponsor of 667 studies on the registry; 376 are open to participants now.

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

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years to 75 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  1. Has voluntarily signed a written informed consent form before any study-specific procedures.
  2. Age 18 to 75 years (inclusive), with no restriction on sex.
  3. Histologically confirmed locally advanced rectal adenocarcinoma by biopsy.
  4. Pelvic MRI shows high-risk features, meeting any one of the following:

    • Clinical tumor (cT) stage cT4a or cT4b (per AJCC 8th edition);
    • Extramural venous invasion (EMVI);
    • Clinical nodal (cN) stage cN2 (per AJCC 8th edition);
    • Involvement of the mesorectal fascia (MRF);
    • Enlarged lateral lymph nodes.
  5. The inferior margin of the tumor is ≤ 10 cm from the anal verge.
  6. Able to swallow tablets and capsules normally.
  7. ECOG performance status 0-1.
  8. No prior anti-tumor treatment for rectal cancer, including radiotherapy, chemotherapy, or surgery.
  9. Planned to undergo surgical treatment after completion of neoadjuvant therapy.
  10. No contraindications to surgery.
  11. Adequate function of major organs, including:

    1. Hematology (no blood or blood-product transfusion, and no use of G-CSF or other hematopoietic growth factors for correction within 14 days before the first treatment): absolute neutrophil count (ANC) ≥ 1.5 × 10⁹/L; platelet count ≥ 75 × 10⁹/L; hemoglobin ≥ 90 g/L; white blood cell count ≥ 3.0 × 10⁹/L;
    2. Blood chemistry: total bilirubin ≤ 1.5 × ULN (for subjects with Gilbert's syndrome, ≤ 3 × ULN; for those with liver metastases, total bilirubin ≤ 3 × ULN); ALT ≤ 2.5 × ULN and AST ≤ 2.5 × ULN (for those with liver metastases, ≤ 5 × ULN); serum creatinine ≤ 1.5 × ULN, or creatinine clearance ≥ 50 mL/min ;
    3. Coagulation: International Normalized Ratio (INR) ≤ 1.5 × ULN; activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) ≤ 1.5 × ULN; prothrombin time (PT) ≤ 1.5 × ULN;
    4. Doppler ultrasound assessment: left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) ≥ 50%.
  12. Female subjects of childbearing potential must have a serum pregnancy test within 14 days before the first study drug administration, with a negative result, and must use effective contraception (e.g., intrauterine device, contraceptive pills, or condoms) during the study and for at least 6 months after the last dose. Male subjects whose partners are women of childbearing potential must use effective contraception during the study and for 6 months after the last dose.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. History of allergy to any anti-angiogenic targeted drug, any component of monoclonal antibodies, capecitabine, oxaliplatin, or other platinum-containing agents.
  2. Has received or is receiving any of the following treatments:

    1. Use of immunosuppressive agents or systemic corticosteroids for immunosuppression within 2 weeks before the first study drug administration (dose > 10 mg/day prednisone or equivalent); inhaled or topical steroids and adrenal corticosteroid replacement at doses > 10 mg/day prednisone equivalent are permitted in the absence of active autoimmune disease;
    2. Receipt of a live attenuated vaccine within 4 weeks before the first study drug administration;
    3. Major surgery or severe trauma within 4 weeks before the first study drug administration.
  3. Any active autoimmune disease or history of autoimmune disease, including but not limited to: interstitial pneumonia, enteritis, hepatitis, hypophysitis, vasculitis, nephritis, hyperthyroidism, hypothyroidism (may be considered for enrollment after hormone replacement therapy); subjects with psoriasis or childhood asthma/allergy that has completely resolved and requires no intervention after adulthood may be considered for enrollment, but those requiring bronchodilator medical intervention are excluded.
  4. History of immunodeficiency, including positive HIV test, or other acquired or congenital immunodeficiency diseases, or history of organ transplantation or allogeneic bone marrow transplantation.
  5. Uncontrolled cardiac clinical symptoms or diseases, including but not limited to: (1) heart failure of NYHA class II or higher, (2) unstable angina, (3) myocardial infarction within 1 year, (4) clinically significant supraventricular or ventricular arrhythmia that remains uncontrolled with or without clinical intervention, (5) hypertension not well controlled by a single antihypertensive agent (systolic blood pressure ≥ 150 mmHg, diastolic blood pressure ≥ 100 mmHg) or requiring two or more antihypertensive agents, (6) New York Heart Association (NYHA) cardiac function class > II or left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) \< 50%.
  6. Severe infection (CTCAE > grade 2) within 4 weeks before the first study drug administration, such as severe pneumonia, bacteremia, or infectious complications requiring hospitalization; active pulmonary inflammation on baseline chest imaging, or signs/symptoms of infection or need for oral/intravenous antibiotics within 14 days before the first study drug administration, except for prophylactic antibiotic use.
  7. Active pulmonary tuberculosis infection identified by history or CT, or history of active pulmonary tuberculosis within 1 year before enrollment, or history of active pulmonary tuberculosis more than 1 year ago without standard treatment.
  8. Active hepatitis B (HBV DNA ≥ 2000 IU/mL or 10⁴ copies/mL), or hepatitis C (positive anti-HCV antibody and HCV RNA above the lower limit of detection of the assay).
  9. Presence of a second primary malignancy.
  10. Pregnant or lactating women.
  11. Arterial or venous thrombotic events within 6 months, such as cerebrovascular accident (including transient ischemic attack), deep vein thrombosis, and pulmonary embolism.
  12. History of substance abuse that cannot be discontinued, or psychiatric disorders.
  13. Any signs or history of bleeding diathesis, regardless of severity.
  14. Patients with active bleeding or a tendency to bleed indicating high bleeding risk.
  15. Urinalysis showing proteinuria ≥ ++, confirmed by 24-hour urine protein quantification > 1.0 g.
  16. As judged by the investigator, other factors that may lead to forced discontinuation of the study, such as other serious diseases (including psychiatric disorders) requiring concomitant treatment, alcoholism, drug abuse, family or social factors, or any factor that may affect the subject's safety or compliance.
05

Study design

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

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Short-Course Radiotherapy followed by Fruquintinib, Tislelizumab, and CAPOX

    Radiation: Short-Course Radiotherapy · Drug: Fruquintinib · Drug: Tislelizumab · Drug: CAPOX

  • Active comparator
    Short-Course Radiotherapy followed by Tislelizumab, and CAPOX

    Radiation: Short-Course Radiotherapy · Drug: Tislelizumab · Drug: CAPOX

Interventions

  • RadiationShort-Course Radiotherapy

    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.

  • DrugCAPOX

    Oxaliplatin \~130 mg/m2 IV on day 1 + capecitabine \~1000 mg/m2 orally twice daily on days 1-14, every 3 weeks, after radiotherapy

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. 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

Secondary outcomes

  1. 3 years EFS

    Time frame: From enrollment to the time (3 years)

  2. 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

  3. R0 resection rate

    Time frame: From randomization to surgical resection (approximately 4-6 months)

  4. 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

  5. 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

  6. 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

  7. 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

  8. 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

07

Study locations

1 of 1 sites recruiting
  • Shanghai Jiaotong Univeristy School of Medicine Affiliated Ruijin Hospital
    Shanghai, Shanghai Municipality 200025, China
    • Pei Xue · Contact · xuepei0415@163.com · 86-21-64370045
    • Pei Xue, PhD · Principal investigator
    Recruiting
08

References and documents

Individual participant data

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.

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

09

Updates

1 registry update since Sep 25, 2026
Registered
First appeared on the registry. No changes since
Oct 22, 2026
Show all 1 update
  1. Oct 22, 2026
    First appeared on the registry

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 ↗

10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT07888309
Lead sponsor
Ruijin Hospital
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Oct 22, 2026
Start date
Sep 11, 2025
Primary completion
Sep 11, 2027 (estimated)
Completion
Sep 11, 2030 (estimated)
Last update
Oct 22, 2026

Study contacts

Pei Xue
Contact
xuepei0415@163.com
86-21-64370045
Pei Xue
principal investigator · Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine Affiliated Ruijin Hospital

Oversight

FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Interested in this study?

Eligibility is decided by the study team. Share this record with your doctor or contact the team directly.

Contact study team

Follow this study

Get an email when the registry record changes — status, dates, results — or when someone posts here.

Sign in to follow

Discussion

Questions and observations about this study, from anyone following it. Not medical advice, and not a channel to the study team — their contact details are on the registry record.

Sign in to join the discussion. Reading takes no account; posting does. You choose a display name, and a pseudonym is the default.

Nothing here yet. If you are running this trial, taking part in it, or weighing whether to, this is the place to say so.

Studies of the drug tested here: HMPL-013

Start the discussion