Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40177244›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in oncology2025

A randomized phase II/III trial of rosuvastatin with neoadjuvant chemo-radiation in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer.

Prachi S Patil, Avanish Saklani, Naveena A N Kumar, Ashwin De'Souza, Rahul Krishnatry, Snehal Khanvilkar, Mufaddal Kazi, Reena Engineer, Vikas Ostwal, Anant Ramaswamy and 4 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Frontiers in oncology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

14 authors.

Prachi S PatilDepartment of Digestive Diseases and Clinical Nutrition, Tata Memorial Hospital, Homi Bhabha National Institute, Mumbai, India.
Avanish SaklaniDepartment of Surgical Oncology, Tata Memorial Hospital, Homi Bhabha National Institute, Mumbai, India.
Naveena A N KumarDepartment of Surgical Oncology, Manipal Comprehensive Cancer Care Center, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, Karnataka, India.
Ashwin De'SouzaDepartment of Surgical Oncology, Tata Memorial Hospital, Homi Bhabha National Institute, Mumbai, India.
Rahul KrishnatryDepartment of Radiation Oncology, Tata Memorial Hospital, Homi Bhabha National Institute, Mumbai, India.
Snehal KhanvilkarTata Memorial Hospital, Homi Bhabha National Institute, Mumbai, India.
Mufaddal KaziDepartment of Surgical Oncology, Tata Memorial Hospital, Homi Bhabha National Institute, Mumbai, India.
Reena EngineerDepartment of Radiation Oncology, Tata Memorial Hospital, Homi Bhabha National Institute, Mumbai, India.
Vikas OstwalDepartment of Medical Oncology, Tata Memorial Hospital, Homi Bhabha national Institute, Mumbai, India.
Anant RamaswamyDepartment of Medical Oncology, Tata Memorial Hospital, Homi Bhabha national Institute, Mumbai, India.
Munita BalDepartment of Pathology, Tata Memorial Hospital, Homi Bhabha National Institute, Mumbai, India.
Priya RanganathanDepartment of Anaesthesiology, Tata Memorial Hospital, Homi Bhabha National Institute, Mumbai, India.
Ekta GuptaLaboratory of Chromatin Biology and Epigenetics, Department of Biology, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune, India.
Sanjeev GalandeLaboratory of Chromatin Biology and Epigenetics, Department of Biology, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune, India.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Aim: Statins have been shown to improve the possibility of a pathological complete response (pCR) in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer when given in combination with neo-adjuvant chemo-radiation (NACTRT) in observational studies. The primary objective of this phase II randomized controlled trial (RCT) is to determine the impact of rosuvastatin in improving pCR rates in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer who are undergoing NACTRT. The secondary objectives are to compare adverse events, postoperative morbidity and mortality, disease-free survival (DFS), and overall survival in the two arms and to identify potential prognostic and predictive factors determining outcomes. If the study is positive, we plan to proceed to a phase III RCT with 3-year DFS as the primary endpoint. Methods: This is a prospective, randomized, open-label phase II/III study. The phase II study has a sample size of 316 patients (158 in each arm) to be accrued over 3 years to have 288 evaluable patients. The standard arm will receive NACTRT while the intervention group will receive 20 mg rosuvastatin orally once daily along with NACTRT for 6 weeks followed by rosuvastatin alone for 6-10 weeks until surgery. All patients will be reviewed after repeat imaging by a multidisciplinary tumor board at 12-16 weeks after starting NACTRT and operable patients will be planned for surgery. The pathological response rate, tumor regression grade (TRG), and post-surgical complications will be recorded. Conclusion: The addition of rosuvastatin to NACTRT may improve the oncological outcomes by increasing the likelihood of pCR in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer undergoing NACTRT. This would be a low-cost, low-risk intervention that could potentially lead to the refinement of strategies, such as "watch and wait", in a select subgroup of patients. Clinical trial registration: Clinical Trials Registry of India, identifier CTRI/2018/11/016459.

Indexed as

drug repurposingneoadjuvant chemoradiationpathological complete responserectal cancerrosuvastatin

Identifiers

PMID40177244
PMCPMC11961435

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.