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Laparoscopic-Assisted Resection or Open Resection in Treating Patients With Rectal Cancer

Phase 3
Completed
Conditions
Colorectal Cancer
Interventions
Procedure: Open laparotomy and rectal resection
Procedure: Laparoscopic-assisted rectal resection
Registration Number
NCT00726622
Lead Sponsor
Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology
Brief Summary

This study is being done to compare two types of surgery currently used for rectal cancer. The two types of surgery are laparoscopic-assisted rectal resection and open laparotomy rectal resection. Although laparoscopic-assisted rectal resection is being used for rectal cancer in some medical centers, the effectiveness of this type of surgery compared to open surgery is unknown. The study will compare the safety and effectiveness of the surgeries, recovery from surgery in the hospital, overall recovery from surgery and cancer outcome.

Detailed Description

This is a multicenter study. Patients eligible for this trial will have completed 5FU based neoadjuvant chemotherapy/radiation therapy per the institution's standard of care or IRB approved clinical trial. Patients may be registered/randomized anytime after completion of neoadjuvant therapy, but surgery must occur within 4-12 weeks (28-84 days) after completion of neoadjuvant therapy. Patients are stratified according to the site of the primary tumor (high, middle or low rectum), registering surgeon, and planned operative procedure (low anterior resection or abdominal perineal resection). Patients are randomized to 1 of 2 treatment arms. Please see the arms section for more details. The primary and secondary objectives are listed below.

Primary Objective:

To test the hypothesis that laparoscopic-assisted resection for rectal cancer is not inferior to open rectal resection, based on a composite primary endpoint of oncologic factors which are indicative of a safe and feasible operation.

Secondary Objectives:

1. To assess patient-related benefit of laparoscopic-assisted resection for rectal cancer vs.

open rectal resection (blood loss, length of stay, pain medicine utilization)

2. To assess disease free survival and local pelvic recurrence at two years.

3. To assess quality of life, sexual function, bowel and stoma function at scheduled time points throughout the trial.

Patients will be evaluated after surgery to determine the need for subsequent care based on the final pathology. Patients should not start treatment on any other investigative trial involving intervention or invasive diagnostic procedures ≤ 30 days following surgery to enable a complete evaluation of post-operative adverse events and complications occurring within 30 days of surgery. Patients are followed periodically for up to 5 years post surgery.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
COMPLETED
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
486
Inclusion Criteria

Not provided

Exclusion Criteria

Not provided

Study & Design

Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Study Design
PARALLEL
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
Arm 1: Open laparotomy and rectal resectionOpen laparotomy and rectal resectionPatients undergo open laparotomy and rectal resection. The standard form of surgery is open laparotomy rectal resection. During open laparotomy, the surgeon makes a large incision or cut in the abdomen, and goes in through that cut to remove the tumor and lymph nodes from the rectum.
Arm 2: Laparoscopic-assisted rectal resectionLaparoscopic-assisted rectal resectionPatients undergo laparoscopic-assisted rectal resection. Laparoscopic-assisted rectal resection is performed using small instruments on long handles introduced into the abdomen through small ports called trocars in 3 - 6 positions on the abdomen through incisions measuring 5 -10 mm, under the guidance of a video camera. The abdominal wall is held up with carbon dioxide under pressure. The piece of bowel or intestine is removed through another incision (about 8 centimeters), and the ends of the intestine are reconnected to provide normal bowel function.
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Comparing Laparoscopic-assisted Resection to Open Rectal Resection for Rectal Cancer as Measured by the Percentage of Patients With Successful Resection Based on Pathological Evaluation.At time of Surgery

The primary endpoint will be a composite endpoint of oncologic factors which are indicative of an adequate surgical resection based on pathologic evaluation.

Primary endpoint parameters:

* Circumferential margin \> 1 mm

* Negative distal margin

* Completeness of total mesorectal excision (TME) A complete TME is a rectal resection specimen that has an intact mesorectum and covering peritoneal envelope all the way to the level of rectal transection with no coning in of the mesorectum above the point of transection. The surface of the peritoneal covering should be smooth and shiny with no defects exposing the underlying fat.

All three criteria must be met for a resection to be deemed adequate. Laparoscopic-assisted resection will be compared to Open rectal resection to determine if it is non-inferior.

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Quality of Life and Sexual FunctionUp to 5 years post surgery
Bowel and Stoma FunctionUp to 5 years post surgery
Circumferential Margin > 1 mmAt time of surgery

The distance between the closest tumor to the cut edge of the tissue was measure post-resection. The percentage of patients with \>1mm between the closest tumor to the cut edge of the tissue was calculated with a binomial 95% confidence interval.

Length of StayTwo weeks post-surgery

The mean number of days required post-surgery to the when the patient was released from the hospital was calculated.

Completeness of Total Mesorectal Excision (Complete or Nearly Complete)At time of surgery

Complete total mesorectal excision was defined as a rectal resection specimen having smooth surface of mesorectal fascia with all fat contained in the enveloping fascia to a level 5 cm below the tumor for tumor-specific total mesorectal excision for upper rectal cancer, or the entire mesorectal envelope present for low rectal cancer. Nearly complete was defined as a rectal resection specimen having the mesorectal envelope intact except for defects no more than 5 mm deep, with no loss of mesorectal fat.

The percentage of patients with complete or nearly complete mesorectal excision was calculated along with the binomial 95% CI.

Disease-free SurvivalUp to 2 years post surgery
Local Pelvic Recurrence RatesUp to 2 years post surgery
Overall SurvivalUp to 5 years post surgery
Bowel FunctionUp to 5 years post surgery
Negative Distal Resected MarginAt time of surgery

The percentage of patients with negative distal margin (\>1 mm between the closest tumor to the cut edge of the tissue) was calculated along with binomial 95% confidence intervals.

Use of Pain MedicationTwo weeks post-surgery

The number of days patients received parenteral narcotics post-surgery were counted.

Operative TimesDuring surgery

Open to close operative time.

Trial Locations

Locations (37)

Evanston Hospital

🇺🇸

Evanston, Illinois, United States

St. Joseph's Hospital - Charlton Campus

🇨🇦

Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Stony Brook University Cancer Center

🇺🇸

Stony Brook, New York, United States

Overlook Hospital

🇺🇸

Summit, New Jersey, United States

Boone Hospital Center

🇺🇸

Columbia, Missouri, United States

SUNY Upstate Medical University Hospital

🇺🇸

Syracuse, New York, United States

Lankenau Cancer Center at Lankenau Hospital

🇺🇸

Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, United States

Forbes Regional Hospital

🇺🇸

Monroeville, Pennsylvania, United States

Cancer Care Center at John Muir Health - Concord Campus

🇺🇸

Concord, California, United States

Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Center

🇺🇸

Cleveland, Ohio, United States

Allegheny Cancer Center at Allegheny General Hospital

🇺🇸

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States

Western Pennsylvania Cancer Institute at Western Pennsylvania Hospital

🇺🇸

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States

Kaiser Permanente Medical Center - Los Angeles

🇺🇸

Los Angeles, California, United States

Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center at Northwestern University

🇺🇸

Chicago, Illinois, United States

Clarian North Medical Center

🇺🇸

Carmel, Indiana, United States

John Muir/Mt. Diablo Comprehensive Cancer Center

🇺🇸

Walnut Creek, California, United States

Cleveland Clinic Florida - Weston

🇺🇸

Weston, Florida, United States

Mayo Clinic Scottsdale

🇺🇸

Scottsdale, Arizona, United States

Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center at University of Iowa

🇺🇸

Iowa City, Iowa, United States

Kendrick Regional Center for Colon and Rectal Care - Mooresville

🇺🇸

Mooresville, Indiana, United States

Blodgett Hospital at Spectrum Health

🇺🇸

Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States

Lahey Clinic Medical Center - Burlington

🇺🇸

Burlington, Massachusetts, United States

University of Wisconsin Paul P. Carbone Comprehensive Cancer Center

🇺🇸

Madison, Wisconsin, United States

Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

🇺🇸

New York, New York, United States

St. Paul's Hospital at Providence Health Care - Vancouver

🇨🇦

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital - Saint Louis

🇺🇸

Saint Louis, Missouri, United States

California Pacific Medical Center - California Campus

🇺🇸

San Francisco, California, United States

Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center

🇺🇸

Indianapolis, Indiana, United States

Veterans Affairs Medical Center - Indianapolis

🇺🇸

Indianapolis, Indiana, United States

Providence Cancer Center at Providence Portland Medical Center

🇺🇸

Portland, Oregon, United States

William N. Wishard Memorial Hospital

🇺🇸

Indianapolis, Indiana, United States

Mayo Clinic Cancer Center

🇺🇸

Rochester, Minnesota, United States

Duke Cancer Institute

🇺🇸

Durham, North Carolina, United States

INTEGRIS Cancer Institute of Oklahoma - Proton Campus

🇺🇸

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States

M. D. Anderson Cancer Center at University of Texas

🇺🇸

Houston, Texas, United States

Medical College of Wisconsin Cancer Center

🇺🇸

Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States

John B. Amos Cancer Center

🇺🇸

Columbus, Georgia, United States

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