Study Status: RECRUITING
Recruit Status: RECRUITING
Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
Official Title: Neoadjuvant Immunotherapy in Rectal Cancer: A Pilot Study Examining the Safety and Feasibility of PD-1 Blockade in the Treatment of dMMR or MSI-H Rectal Cancer
Brief Summary: Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer worldwide and the second leading cause of cancer mortality in the United States.
The current standard of care (SOC) for locally advanced rectal cancer includes neoadjuvant chemotherapy and radiation followed by surgery.
However, great variability exists in patient's response to neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy with only about 20-25% of patients achieving a complete response while other patients achieve a partial or no treatment response.
The purpose of this study is to test the investigational agent, Pembrolizumab, in combination with SOC radiation and Capecitabine (or 5-Fluorouacil) in treatment of patients with mismatch repair deficient locally advanced rectal cancer.