Five-Year Outcomes of Short-Term Radiotherapy Plus Chemotherapy Versus Long-Term Chemoradiotherapy for Locally Advanced Rectal Cancer: Updated Results of the STELLAR Trial.
J Clin OncolJul 27, 2026 (epub)
Yuan Tang, Hai-Tao Zhou, Tong-Zhen Xu et al.
✦ AI-curated · Sources linked
In 30 seconds
The STELLAR trial compared 5-year outcomes of short-course radiotherapy followed by chemotherapy (SCRT-based TNT) versus long-course chemoradiotherapy (CRT) in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer. At a median follow-up of 68.7 months, the TNT group demonstrated a 5-year overall survival of 78.1% compared to 69.7% in the CRT group, with a hazard ratio of 0.739.
Key findings
- 5-year disease-free survival was 62.0% for TNT vs 58.7% for CRT.
- 5-year overall survival was significantly higher with TNT at 78.1% vs 69.7%.
- In high-risk patients, TNT improved overall survival with a hazard ratio of 0.663.
- TNT improved postrecurrence progression-free survival with a hazard ratio of 0.691.
Why it matters
These findings indicate that SCRT-based total neoadjuvant therapy may offer a significant survival benefit over standard long-course chemoradiotherapy, particularly for high-risk patients, which could influence treatment strategies in locally advanced rectal cancer.