FOLFOX, Botensilimab, and Balstilimab for the Treatment of Localized Rectal Cancer Before Surgery

Trial statusRecruiting
Trial phasePhase 2
Trial typeInterventional
Biological sexAll
Age18+
SponsorCity of Hope Medical Center

About this trial

This phase II trial tests how well fluorouracil, oxaliplatin and leucovorin calcium (folinic acid) (FOLFOX) with botensilimab and balstilimab given before surgery (neoadjuvant) works in treating patients with rectal adenocarcinoma that has not spread to other parts of the body (localized). Currently, neoadjuvant therapy for rectal cancer includes chemotherapy and chemoradiation. Despite these aggressive treatments, only about half of patients achieve a complete clinical response. In fact, over half of rectal cancer patients go on to have surgery and often suffer post-surgery complications involving urine and bowel problems. Thus, there has been an increased focus on non-surgical treatments. Chemotherapy drugs, such as fluorouracil, oxaliplatin and leucovorin calcium, work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells, by stopping them from dividing, or by stopping them from spreading. Immunotherapy with monoclonal antibodies, such as botensilimab and balstilimab, may help the body's immune system attack the tumor, and may interfere with the ability of tumor cells to grow and spread. Giving neoadjuvant FOLFOX with botensilimab and balstilimab may improve the rate of complete response and decrease the need for surgery and radiation therapy in patients with localized rectal adenocarcinoma.

Eligibility criteria

This trial does not accept healthy volunteers

Qualifiers

Documented informed consent of the participant and/or legally authorized representative

Assent, when appropriate, will be obtained per institutional guidelines

Agreement to allow the use of archival tissue from diagnostic tumor biopsies

If unavailable, exceptions may be granted with study principal investigator (PI) approval

Disqualifiers

Any treatment for rectal cancer prior to enrollment that includes (but not limited to) chemotherapy, radiation, and/or biological therapy

Any prior immunotherapy

Patients with a condition requiring systemic treatment with either corticosteroids (> 10 mg daily prednisone equivalent) within 14 days or another immunosuppressive medication within 30 days of the first dose of study treatment. Inhaled or topical steroids, and adrenal replacement steroid doses > 10 mg daily prednisone equivalent, are permitted in the absence of active autoimmune disease

Prior allogeneic organ transplantation

Trial design

Design model

Single group

Treatments tested in this trial

  • Balstilimab

    Biological/Vaccine

    Given IV

  • Biospecimen Collection

    Procedure/Surgery

    Undergo blood sample collection

  • Botensilimab

    Biological/Vaccine

    Given IV

  • Capecitabine

    Drug

    Given PO

  • Computed Tomography

    Procedure/Surgery

    Undergo CT

  • Digital Rectal Examination

    Procedure/Surgery

    Undergo digital rectal exam

  • Endoscopic Biopsy

    Procedure/Surgery

    Undergo biopsy with endoscopic exam

  • Fluorouracil

    Drug

    Given IV

  • Leucovorin Calcium

    Drug

    Given IV

  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging

    Procedure/Surgery

    Undergo MRI

  • Oxaliplatin

    Drug

    Given IV

  • Radiation Therapy

    Radiation

    Undergo radiation therapy

  • Sigmoidoscopy

    Procedure/Surgery

    Undergo sigmoidoscopy

Treatment groups

26 Participants
are divided into 1 treatment group
Group A: Treatment (FOLFOX, botensilimab, balstilimab)Experimental treatment 13 interventions

Trial outcomes

Primary outcomes

1

Complete clinical response (cCR) rate

Data will be summarized using descriptive statistics for continuous variables and frequencies and percentages will be used for categorical variables. Univariate logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (OR) and 90% confidence interval (CI) for cCR

Time frame
At 3 months after treatment

Secondary outcomes

1

Overall response rate (ORR)

ORR is calculated as the number of patients with complete response (per Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors version \[v\] 1.1) divided by the total number of treated/evaluable subjects. Data will be summarized using descriptive statistics for continuous variables and frequencies and percentages will be used for categorical variables. Univariate logistic regression was used to estimate OR and 90% CI. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HR) with 95% CI.

Time frame
Up to 5 years
2

Incidence of adverse events (AE) and serious adverse events (SAE)

AE and SAE will be described and graded at all dose levels using Common Terminology Criteria in Adverse Events v 5.0. Data will be summarized using descriptive statistics for continuous variables and frequencies and percentages will be used for categorical variables.

Time frame
Up to 90 days post-treatment
3

Disease free survival (DFS)

Data will be summarized using descriptive statistics for continuous variables and frequencies and percentages will be used for categorical variables. Univariate logistic regression was used to estimate OR and 90% CI. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate HR with 95% CI. DFS distributions will be estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method.

Time frame
From the date of study enrollment until the recurrence of disease or death, whichever occurs first, assessed at 3 years post-treatment
4

Progression-free survival (PFS)

Data will be summarized using descriptive statistics for continuous variables and frequencies and percentages will be used for categorical variables. PFS distributions will be estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Kaplan-Meier method was used to plot PFS curves, and the log-rank test was applied to compare the distribution between groups. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate HR with 95% CI.

Time frame
From the date of study enrollment until objective tumor progression or death, assessed up to 5 years

Other outcomes

Sponsors and contacts

Click on the lead sponsor to view all of their trials.

City of Hope Medical Center

Lead sponsor

National Cancer Institute (NCI)

Collaborator