ClinicalTrials.gg
Not yet recruitingNCT07904156SerF-ADJUpdated Oct 29, 2026

A Phase III Randomized Controlled Trial of Serplulimab Plus Fruquintinib as Adjuvant Therapy for High-Risk Non-Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma

A Phase 3 interventional study of Serplulimab + Fruquintinib in Non-Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma (nccRCC), sponsored by Sun Yat-sen University. Not yet recruiting. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 80 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-10-29.

Sponsored by Sun Yat-sen University · Phase 3, Interventional, and Treatment

Updated Oct 29, 2026Newly registeredGo to Updates ↓

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Phase
Phase 3
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
108
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years to 80 Years
Sex
All
01

Where this study stands

Counted across the records on this site · 2026-11-13

Among 18 studies in Carcinoma, Renal Cell by Sun Yat-sen University — 11 open to participants now, 14 under way, 3 of them phase 3. Carcinoma, Renal Cell · Sun Yat-sen University.

Planned enrollment
5th of 16
108 · median 49
Started
2026
with 3 others
Phase 3
3 of 18
2 open now
Primary completion
2030-12
later than 13 of 13 live
Registered
16th of 18
by date

Among the 18 studies in Carcinoma, Renal Cell by Sun Yat-sen University, this one is the 5th largest by planned enrollment of the 16 interventional ones that give a count, is one of 4 that started in 2026, is one of 3 in phase 3, reaches primary completion later than 13 of the 13 other live ones, and was the 16th registered.

Carcinoma, Renal Cell

2,038 studies on the registry are indexed under Carcinoma, Renal Cell; 395 are open to participants now.

Browse Carcinoma, Renal Cell studies →

Open to participants now

11 of the 18 studies in Carcinoma, Renal Cell by Sun Yat-sen University are open now, in 1 country. Recruiting first, the newest first:

5 more — sign in →

By country, each count listing its studies:

All 11 open studies →

Where they have run

Who these studies take

Of the 307 Carcinoma, Renal Cell studies recruiting now, 254 (83%) set no upper age limit and 18 (6%) stop at 75 or younger; 20 take children under 18; 19 take healthy volunteers.

This study: 18 Years to 80 Years · all sexes · no healthy volunteers.

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02

Study summary

People with non-clear cell renal cell carcinoma may remain at high risk of cancer recurrence even after surgery has removed all visible disease. This study will test whether treatment after surgery with serplulimab plus fruquintinib improves outcomes compared with observation alone.

This is a multicenter, randomized, open-label Phase III study. Approximately 108 adults will be assigned in a 1:1 ratio to receive the drug combination or observation. Participants in both groups will undergo scheduled follow-up. The main measure is the proportion of participants who remain free of recurrence two years after randomization. The study will also assess recurrence-free survival over time, overall survival, safety, and exploratory biomarkers.

Read the detailed description

This prospective, multicenter, randomized Phase III study will evaluate serplulimab plus fruquintinib as adjuvant treatment for patients with high-risk non-clear cell renal cell carcinoma after surgical removal of all visible disease. The study hypothesis is that the combination will improve recurrence-free survival compared with observation.

Approximately 108 eligible participants will be randomized 1:1 to the combination-treatment group or the observation group. Treatment in the experimental group will begin within 12 weeks after surgery. The observation group will receive no study drug. Both groups will undergo scheduled clinical and imaging assessments, generally every 12 weeks, to monitor for recurrence and survival. The study will assess treatment safety and explore whether biomarkers measured in tumor tissue and blood are associated with outcomes.

03

Conditions studied

  • Non-Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma (nccRCC)
04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years to 80 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

  • Voluntarily provides written and is willing and able to comply with study procedures.
  • Is 18 to 80 years of age, inclusive.
  • Has an performance status of 0 or 1 and a of at least 3 months.
  • Has confirmed high-risk non-clear cell renal cell carcinoma, including papillary, unclassified, or genetically defined non-clear cell subtypes. High-risk disease is defined according to the AJCC 8th edition as newly diagnosed T2 disease with sarcomatoid differentiation; T2 grade 4 disease; T3NxM0, T4NxM0, or TxN1M0 disease; or recurrent or renal cell carcinoma (TxNxM1) that has undergone R0 resection.
  • Signs informed consent no more than 12 weeks after surgery.
  • Has no definite evidence of tumor on physical examination and baseline imaging of the brain, chest, abdomen, and pelvis (CT or MRI), or whole-body PET-CT.
  • Has no definite evidence of bone metastasis on bone scan.
  • Has adequate organ function, defined as:
  • ≥70 g/L; ≥1.5 × 10\^9/L; white blood cell count ≥3.0 × 10\^9/L; and count ≥80 × 10\^9/L.
  • and AST ≤2.5 × the (ULN), or ≤5 × ULN in the circumstances specified in the protocol for liver or bone metastases; total ≤1.5 × ULN.
  • Serum creatinine ≤2 × ULN or ≥30 mL/min.
  • , international normalized ratio, and prothrombin time ≤1.5 × ULN.
  • If of , has a confirmed nonpregnant status before enrollment. All participants agree to use adequate during treatment and for 6 months after treatment ends.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Chromophobe renal cell carcinoma, collecting duct carcinoma, or renal medullary carcinoma.
  • Known to either study drug, its active ingredient, or any .
  • Prior treatment with an antitumor monoclonal antibody or another drug, including prior or anti-PD-L1 therapy.
  • Inability to start study treatment within 12 weeks after surgery.
  • Prior treatment with fruquintinib or another antiangiogenic drug.
  • Use of medication or systemic at a dose greater than 10 mg/day prednisone equivalent within 2 weeks before enrollment.
  • Current or previous active disease, except for the conditions expressly permitted by the protocol, including certain conditions requiring no systemic treatment during the preceding 2 years and stable endocrine conditions controlled with replacement therapy.
  • Uncontrolled cardiac symptoms or disease, congenital or acquired immunodeficiency, or uncontrolled hypertension despite medication.
  • Prior use of traditional Chinese medicine with an established anticancer indication before enrollment.
  • Gastrointestinal perforation within 4 weeks before enrollment; a serious arterial or venous thrombotic event within 6 months before enrollment; or active bleeding or a bleeding tendency.
  • Urine protein of 3+ or greater on dipstick testing, or 24-hour urine protein ≥2 g.
  • Suspected additional primary .
  • Interstitial lung disease, noninfectious pneumonitis, or an uncontrolled systemic illness.
  • Receipt of a within 28 days before the first study-drug dose, or anticipated need for one during the study.
  • infection or known AIDS; active (HBV DNA ≥500 IU/mL); active (detectable HCV RNA); or concurrent hepatitis B and C infection.
  • Severe infection within 4 weeks before the first study-drug dose; grade ≥2 active infection requiring systemic antibiotics within 2 weeks before the first dose; unexplained fever >38.5°C during screening or before the first dose, unless judged by the investigator to be tumor-related; or evidence of active tuberculosis within the preceding year.
  • Major surgery within 28 days before randomization, except for the procedures expressly permitted by the protocol.
  • Prior or planned allogeneic bone marrow or solid-organ transplantation.
  • Grade ≥2 peripheral neuropathy; active brain or meningeal , carcinomatous meningitis, or spinal cord compression. The protocol permits previously treated under specified stability and imaging conditions.
  • A condition that substantially impairs absorption of oral medication, such as inability to swallow, chronic diarrhea, or bowel obstruction.
  • Pregnancy, breastfeeding, or plans to become pregnant during the study.
  • Any other serious physical or psychiatric illness or laboratory abnormality that may increase study risk, interfere with interpretation of results, or make participation unsuitable in the investigator's judgment.
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(29)

Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.

Informed consent

Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.

You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.

ECOG performance status

A scale of how much an illness limits everyday activity. For people being assessed to join a study, scores run from 0 (fully active) to 4; lower is more active.

0
Fully active, no restrictions.
1
Limited in strenuous activity, but walking and able to do light work, such as housework or office work.
2
Walking and able to look after yourself, but unable to work; up and about more than half of waking hours.
3
Able to look after yourself only in part; in bed or a chair more than half of waking hours.
4
Unable to look after yourself at all; in bed or a chair all day.

Studies most often ask for 0–1 or 0–2. Your doctor gives the score; the WHO scale uses the same steps. The full scale also has 5, which records death.

Life expectancy

The study doctor’s estimate of how long someone is likely to live. Criteria use it so that people can stay in the study long enough for it to answer its question.

Histologically or cytologically confirmed

The diagnosis was confirmed by looking at a sample under a microscope: tissue from a biopsy or surgery (histology), or cells from a fluid or needle sample (cytology).

Your pathology report is the document that shows this.

Metastases

Cancer that has spread from where it began to other parts of the body. “Metastatic” cancer is cancer that has spread this way.

Hemoglobin (Hb)

The protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen. A low level is anaemia, which can cause tiredness and breathlessness. Measured in g/dL or g/L (9 g/dL is 90 g/L).

Absolute neutrophil count (ANC)

The number of neutrophils, white blood cells that help fight infection, in a given amount of blood. Too few raises the risk of infection.

It is a count, not a percentage of the white cells. Limits are written in units that mean the same: ≥ 1.5 × 10⁹/L is ≥ 1,500 per mm³ (µL). Each lab has its own reference range.

Platelets

Blood cells that help blood clot. Too few raises the risk of bleeding and bruising. A usual adult range is about 150–400 × 10⁹/L (150,000–400,000 per µL); each lab has its own reference range.

ALT and AST (liver enzymes)

Two enzymes measured in a routine blood test of the liver. Higher levels can mean the liver is under strain or damaged. SGPT and SGOT are older names for ALT and AST.

Criteria usually give a limit as a multiple of the upper limit of normal (ULN), often higher when cancer has spread to the liver.

ULN (upper limit of normal)

The top of the normal range for a blood test, as set by the laboratory that runs it. Each lab prints its own range next to your result.

“≤ 2.5 × ULN” means the result can be up to two and a half times that top value.

Bilirubin

A yellow substance made when red blood cells are broken down, which the liver clears. A high level can mean a problem with the liver or the bile ducts.

Criteria often allow more for people with Gilbert’s syndrome, a harmless inherited condition that raises bilirubin.

Creatinine clearance (CrCl)

How quickly the kidneys clear creatinine, a waste product, from the blood. A study may estimate it from a blood test with age, weight and sex (often by the Cockcroft–Gault formula), or measure it using blood and urine collected over a set time. Given in mL/min; higher is better.

INR, PT and aPTT (clotting tests)

Blood tests of how long blood takes to clot. The INR is the prothrombin time (PT) put on a common scale; about 1 is usual for someone not taking a blood thinner.

Criteria often make an exception for people on a blood thinner such as warfarin, whose INR is raised on purpose.

Childbearing potential

Able to become pregnant: from the first period until menopause, unless permanently unable to through surgery (removal of the womb, or of both ovaries or both fallopian tubes).

Criteria for people of childbearing potential usually ask for a negative pregnancy test and for contraception during the study and for a time after it.

Contraception

Ways of preventing pregnancy. “Highly effective” methods fail less than 1% of the time a year when used correctly — for example an IUD or an implant.

Criteria usually say which methods count and how long to keep using them after the last dose, sometimes for male participants too. Some studies accept a partner’s vasectomy if it was confirmed successful and that person is the participant’s only sexual partner.

Hypersensitivity

An allergy, or another reaction of the immune system, to a substance. “Hypersensitivity to the study drug” means a known allergic reaction to it — not every side effect a medicine can have.

Excipients

The other ingredients in a medicine besides the active drug, such as fillers, colours or preservatives.

Investigational drug or device

A drug or device being studied in a clinical trial.

It may be new, or already approved and being studied for another use, dose or form. Criteria often leave out people who took part in another study of one within a recent period, commonly 30 days or five half-lives.

PD-1, PD-L1 and checkpoint inhibitors

PD-1, PD-L1 and CTLA-4 are proteins that act as brakes on the immune system. Checkpoint inhibitors, such as pembrolizumab or nivolumab, block them so the immune system can attack a cancer.

PD-L1 can also be measured in a tumour sample. Some scores count stained tumour cells only (TPS); others also count certain immune cells (CPS). The study names the score and the minimum it uses.

Immunosuppression

A weakened immune system. It can come from an illness, such as HIV or some blood cancers, or from medicines that turn the immune system down, for example after an organ transplant or for an autoimmune disease; steroids at higher doses count.

Read whether the line is about a condition or about medicines, and which medicines and doses it means.

Corticosteroids (steroids)

Anti-inflammatory medicines such as prednisone, prednisolone and dexamethasone — not the anabolic steroids used for muscle.

Studies differ in what they allow: check which steroid medicines, routes (tablets, injections, creams, inhalers, eye drops) and doses this study accepts.

Autoimmune disease

A condition in which the immune system attacks the body’s own tissues, such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, psoriasis, type 1 diabetes or inflammatory bowel disease.

Immunotherapy studies often leave out active autoimmune disease, and some name exceptions, such as thyroid disease on replacement hormone. Check the exceptions this study lists.

Cancer (malignancy)

Malignancy means cancer. Criteria about another or earlier malignancy ask whether you have had a different cancer, usually within a set number of years.

Some are commonly allowed, such as treated skin cancers other than melanoma and early cancers removed completely — check the exceptions this study lists.

Live vaccines

Vaccines made with a weakened form of the germ, such as measles–mumps–rubella (MMR), chickenpox and yellow fever. They can be risky when the immune system is weakened. Flu injections are not live; the nasal flu spray is.

HIV

The human immunodeficiency virus, which weakens the immune system.

Many studies now accept people whose HIV is controlled on treatment, judged by the viral load and the CD4 count. Check the limits this study sets.

Hepatitis B tests

Hepatitis B is a virus that infects the liver. These are separate tests: HBsAg positive usually means a current infection (a recent vaccination can briefly cause it too); total anti-HBc (HBcAb) positive means an infection now or in the past; HBV DNA measures how much virus is in the blood.

Some studies accept a past infection if HBV DNA is undetectable, sometimes with antiviral medicine during the study. Check what this study allows.

Hepatitis C tests

Hepatitis C is a virus that infects the liver. An HCV antibody test can stay positive after an infection has cleared (and is occasionally positive without one); an HCV RNA test shows whether the virus is there now.

After treatment, hepatitis C counts as cured when HCV RNA is still undetectable 12 weeks or more after the treatment ended. Studies often accept people cured this way.

Brain metastases

Cancer deposits in the brain from a cancer that started elsewhere in the body (CNS metastases include the spinal cord).

Studies differ: some leave out any brain metastases, some accept ones treated and stable for some weeks. Check what this study allows.

Clinically significant

Judged by the study doctor to matter for your health or for the study. It is a doctor’s decision, so ask the study team if you are unsure whether something counts.

05

Study design

Phase
Phase 3
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
108 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Serplulimab Plus Fruquintinib

    Participants will start adjuvant treatment within 12 weeks after surgery. Serplulimab 300 mg will be administered by intravenous infusion every 3 weeks for up to 17 cycles. Fruquintinib 5 mg will be taken orally once daily for 14 days, followed by 7 days off, for a total of 12 weeks.

    Drug: Serplulimab + Fruquintinib

  • No intervention
    Observation

    Participants will receive no adjuvant study treatment after surgery. They will undergo scheduled clinical and imaging assessments every 12 weeks to monitor for disease recurrence and survival.

Interventions

  • DrugSerplulimab + Fruquintinib

    Drug pages: Serplulimab · HMPL-013

    Participants will start adjuvant treatment within 12 weeks after surgery. Serplulimab 300 mg will be administered by intravenous infusion every 3 weeks for up to 17 cycles. Fruquintinib 5 mg will be taken orally once daily for 14 days, followed by 7 days off, for a total of 12 weeks.

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. 2-Year Recurrence-Free Survival (RFS) Rate

    The Kaplan-Meier estimated percentage of randomized participants who are alive without documented local, regional, or distant recurrence 24 months after randomization.

    Time frame: 2-year

Secondary outcomes

  1. Overall Survival (OS)

    Time from randomization to death from any cause. Participants alive at their last known follow-up will be censored on that date.

    Time frame: 2-year

  2. Incidence and Severity of Adverse Events

    Number and percentage of participants receiving study treatment who experience adverse events, summarized by severity.

    Time frame: From the date of informed consent until 90 days after the last dose of serplulimab or 30 days after the last dose of fruquintinib, whichever is later, or until the initiation of new anticancer therapy, whichever occurs first; assessed up to 27 months

Other outcomes

  1. Clinically Significant Laboratory Abnormalities

    Description: Number and percentage of participants receiving study treatment who develop clinically significant laboratory abnormalities.

    Time frame: From enrollment to the end of treatment, assessed up to 27 months.

07

Study locations

No study locations are listed for this record.

08

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No — Individual participant data (IPD) will not be publicly shared due to patient privacy and confidentiality considerations, as well as ethical and regulatory restrictions. The study data will be securely maintained by the investigators and used in accordance with the approved study protocol and applicable regulations.

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

09

Timeline

1 registry update since Sep 25, 2026
ElapsedEstimatedEstimated, not yet reachedSimilar studies: half by the dot; the band is the middle halfHalf of similar studies reached it by the dot; the band is the middle half, from a quarter to three quarters

Start is estimated for Oct 2026; primary completion for Dec 2030, 50 months later.

Of 61 phase 3 interventional studies under Carcinoma, Renal Cell, half reached primary completion within 56 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 42 and three quarters within 89. This study's planned 50 months is below that.

How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.

Registered
Oct 19, 2026
First posted
Oct 29, 2026
StartEst.
Oct 21, 2026
Primary completionEst.
Dec 30, 2030
CompletionEst.
Dec 30, 2032
Last update
Oct 29, 2026
What these dates mean
Start.
When the first participant enrolled; while estimated, when the study expects to open to recruitment.
Primary completion.
When the last participant was examined or treated to collect data for the study's main question, its primary outcome. A study that stopped early gives the date its data collection stopped.
Completion.
When the last participant's last visit took place, for every outcome, secondary ones and side effects included: the end of the study. Often later than primary completion, sometimes the same day.
Actual and Est.
Actual means the registry says the date has happened. Est. (estimated) is a date the sponsor plans or expects. It can still move, and the sponsor is expected to change it to actual once it has passed.
Registered
First appeared on the registry. No changes since
Oct 29, 2026
Show all 1 update
  1. Oct 29, 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
NCT07904156
Responsible party
ZHOU FANGJIAN (prof, Sun Yat-sen University) — Principal investigator
First posted
Oct 29, 2026
Start date
Oct 21, 2026 (estimated)
Primary completion
Dec 30, 2030 (estimated)
Completion
Dec 30, 2032 (estimated)
Last update
Oct 29, 2026

Study contacts

Pei Dong, Doc
Contact
dongpei@sysucc.org.cn
+8618684843267

Oversight

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

Not currently enrolling

This study is not yet recruiting, as verified in Oct 2026. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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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.

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Studies of the drugs tested here: Serplulimab · HMPL-013

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