Neo-adjuvant Chemoradiation With Oxaliplatin/5-FU in Rectal Cancer

OBJECTIVES:

Primary

To assess the complete pathologic response rate in patients with rectal cancer treated with radiation, modified neoadjuvant FOLFOX 6 chemotherapy followed by total mesorectal excision and adjuvant modified FOLFOX 6 chemotherapy.

Secondary

To observe the overall pathologic response rate in these patients.
To correlate pathologic staging with preoperative ultrasound and pelvic MRI staging.
To assess toxic side effects of these regimens in these patients.
To assess patterns of disease relapse, disease-free survival outcomes, and overall survival outcomes of these patients.

OUTLINE:

Patients with stage II/III rectal cancer were treated with OXA 60mg/m2 weekly continuous infusion 5FU of 225 mg/m2/d d1-5 with pelvic RT of 1.8Gy/d for 28 doses. Adjuvant therapy consisted of 6 cycles of biweekly FOLFOX6.

Surgery: Patients undergo total mesorectal excision by anterior resection or an abdominal perineal resection within 4 weeks after completion of neoadjuvant therapy.

Adjuvant therapy: Within 4 weeks after surgery, patients receive modified FOLFOX 6 chemotherapy comprising oxaliplatin and leucovorin calcium IV over 2 hours on day 1 and continuous fluorouracil IV over 46 hours on days 1-2. Treatment repeats every 14 days for 6 courses in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity.

Patients complete quality of life assessment questionnaires at baseline and at each follow-up visit.

After completion of study treatment, patients are followed every 3 months for 2 years, every 6 months for 3 years, and annually thereafter.