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NCT07340567Active, not recruitingPhase 3

Personalizing Chemotherapy Selection After Surgery for Patients With Stage III Colorectal Cancer Using a Blood Test

Tailoring the Decision for Adjuvant Chemotherapy Using Circulating Tumour DNA, in Patients With Stage III Colorectal Cancer

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Last updated 22 Jul 2026

Brief summary (registry, in English)

CIRCULATE-III is an international, multicenter, open-label, randomized phase III trial designed to use ctDNA as a selection criterion for intensification or de-escalation of adjuvant chemotherapy. Eligible patients are randomly assigned to the following treatment groups: * Patients who test negative for ctDNA receive either capecitabine for 6 months (experimental group) or oxaliplatin + capecitabine for 3 months (standard group). * Patients who test positive for ctDNA receive either FOLFIRINOX for 6 months (experimental group) or FOLFOX for 6 months (standard group). Patient participation in the trial will not exceed 66 months after randomization, including a maximum treatment duration of 6 months and a follow-up period of 60 months.

Status (registry)
Active, not recruiting
Phase (registry)
Phase 3
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
2450 (estimated)
First submitted
18 Dec 2025
Start date
20 Jul 2026
Primary completion date
1 Nov 2032
Lead sponsor
UNICANCER
NCT number
NCT07340567

What you commit to

  • Study type: Interventional · Phase 3
  • Planned participants: 2450
  • From 20 Jul 2026 to the primary completion date, 1 Nov 2032
  • 5 sites in 2 countries
  • Visits and tests: ask the trial team, the registry does not list them

Built from the registry fields of ClinicalTrials.gov. It describes the study, not your situation.

Who cannot take part

Copied verbatim from ClinicalTrials.gov and grouped by topic. Only the trial team decides who can take part.

Prior treatment

  • Patients who have received neo-adjuvant treatment.
  • Patient must not have received bone marrow transplant
  • Patient must not have received blood transfusion within 3 months before inclusion

Other illness

  • Comorbidity influencing the 3-year patients' survival including clinically relevant cardiovascular disease, such as Ischemic myocardial infarction in the last year and/or unstable ischemic cardiopathy
  • Contra-indication to chemotherapy (inadequate bone marrow, hepatic, renal functions, hypersensitivity to one of the treatments or any of the excipients)

Age

  • Medical history of other concomitant or previous malignant disease, except adequately treated in situ carcinoma of the uterine cervix, basal or squamous cell carcinoma of the skin, or cancer in complete remission for ≥ 5 years.

Other

  • Peripheral neuropathy grade ≥1
  • Participation in another therapeutic trial
  • Partial or complete dihydropyrimidine deshydrogenase (DPD) deficiency.
  • MSI/dMMR tumors
  • Pregnant or breastfeeding women.
  • Patients unwilling or unable to comply with the medical follow-up required by the trial because of geographic, familial social or psychological reasons
  • Persons deprived of their liberty or under protective custody or guardianship.

Who the study is looking for

  • Patient must have signed a written informed consent prior to any trial specific procedures. When the patient is physically unable to give their written consent, an impartial witness of their choice, independent from the investigator or the sponsor, can confirm in writing the patient's consent
  • Age ≥18 years and \<80 years (for patients aged \>70 years: G8 geriatric questionnaire score\>14)
  • Histologically confirmed stage III pMMR/MSS colon and high rectum adenocarcinoma (T, N1 or N2, M0) excluding medium and low rectal cancers (≥12 cm from the anal verge by endoscopy and/or above the peritoneal reflection at surgery are still eligible), without gross or microscopic evidence of residual disease after surgery with curative intent.
  • No metastatic disease on CT-Scan and/or liver MRI done within 2 months before inclusion
  • Inclusion planned between 10 days to 6 weeks after surgery
  • ECOG performance status 0-1 (fit to receive FOLFIRINOX therapy)
  • No prior chemotherapy for CRC
  • No prior abdominal or pelvic irradiation for CRC
  • Adequate hematological function: neutrophils ≥1,500 /mm3, platelet count ≥100,000/mm3, hemoglobin ≥9 g/dL (5,6 mmol/L)
  • Total bilirubin ≤1.5 x ULN (upper limit of normal)
  • ASAT and ALAT ≤2.5 x ULN
  • Alkaline phosphatase ≤2.5 x ULN
  • Serum creatinine ≤120 μmol/L or creatinine clearance ≥50 mL/min according to Modification of Diet in Renal Disease (MDRD) formulae
  • Tumor tissue available at baseline
  • Women of childbearing potential must have negative serum pregnancy test done within 7 days before the start of study treatment
  • Men and women of childbearing potential must agree to use adequate contraception methods for the duration of study treatment and for 6 months after treatment discontinuation
  • Patients must be willing and able to comply with the protocol for the duration of the study including scheduled visits, treatment plan, laboratory tests and other study procedures
  • Patient must be affiliated to a social security system (or equivalent) or according to local regulatory requirements

Age in the registry: 18 years to 80 years · Sex: All · Does not accept healthy volunteers

Full criteria on ClinicalTrials.gov

Sites (5)

Sites in registry order. Pick your city on the disease page to sort them by distance.

SiteCityCountrySite status
Institut Gustave Roussy
Coordinator of this site? Confirm its status
VillejuifFranceUnknown status
Sahlgrenska University Hospital
Coordinator of this site? Confirm its status
GothenburgSwedenUnknown status
Skåne University Hospital
Coordinator of this site? Confirm its status
LundSwedenUnknown status
Södersjukhuset
Coordinator of this site? Confirm its status
StockholmSwedenUnknown status
Onkologikliniken
Coordinator of this site? Confirm its status
UppsalaSwedenUnknown status

This page is information, not medical advice. Discuss any trial with your doctor.