# SCOT

Source: https://onco.cc/trials/scot/  
OnCo record `scot` (Trial). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

The Glasgow-led trial that halved the length of chemotherapy after bowel cancer surgery, sparing thousands of people lasting nerve damage.

## Summary

SCOT randomised 6,088 people with high-risk stage II or stage III colorectal cancer to three or six months of oxaliplatin-containing adjuvant chemotherapy. Three-year disease-free survival was 76.7 percent with three months and 77.1 percent with six, a hazard ratio of 1.006 (0.909 to 1.114), comfortably inside the non-inferiority margin. Peripheral neuropathy of grade 2 or worse was far more common after six months (58 percent against 25 percent in the safety subset), was long-lasting and was associated with worse quality of life. Three months is now the usual offer in NICE NG151, which recommends CAPOX for three months first for stage 3 colon and rectal cancer.

## Fields

- Kind: Trial
- Status: positive
- Last checked: 2026-09-24
- Also known as: Short Course Oncology Therapy; ISRCTN59757862
- Tags: uk; adjuvant; colorectal; de-escalation
- Registry id: ISRCTN59757862
- Phase: 3
- Setting: Three months against six months of adjuvant oxaliplatin with a fluoropyrimidine (CAPOX or FOLFOX) after resection of high-risk stage II or stage III colorectal cancer; 244 centres, non-inferiority design with a hazard ratio margin of 1.13
- Sponsor: NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde with the University of Glasgow
- Enrolled: 6088
- Result: Three-year disease-free survival 76.7 percent with three months against 77.1 percent with six (hazard ratio 1.006, 0.909 to 1.114, non-inferiority p = 0.012), with grade 2 or worse peripheral neuropathy in 25 percent against 58 percent.
- Outcomes: Disease-free survival at 3 years: 3 months 76.7 percent vs 6 months 77.1 percent, HR 1.006

## Sources

- Lancet Oncology 2018: https://europepmc.org/article/MED/29611518
- ISRCTN59757862: https://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN59757862

## Connected records

- cancers: [Colon cancer (adenocarcinoma of the colon)](https://onco.cc/cancers/colon-cancer/), [Colorectal cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/colorectal/)
- fronts: [Chemotherapy](https://onco.cc/fronts/chemotherapy/)
- technologies: [Cytotoxic chemotherapy](https://onco.cc/technologies/cytotoxic-chemotherapy/), [Platinum agents](https://onco.cc/technologies/platinum/)
- drugs: [Capecitabine](https://onco.cc/drugs/capecitabine/), [CAPOX (capecitabine, oxaliplatin)](https://onco.cc/drugs/capox/), [FOLFOX (5-FU, leucovorin, oxaliplatin)](https://onco.cc/drugs/folfox/), [Oxaliplatin](https://onco.cc/drugs/oxaliplatin/)
- institutions: [Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre / CRUK Scotland Institute](https://onco.cc/institutions/beatson-glasgow/), [Oxford Cancer (Oxford University Hospitals and University of Oxford)](https://onco.cc/institutions/oxford-cancer/)
- terms: [De-escalation, escalation and response-adapted therapy](https://onco.cc/terms/de-escalation/), [Neoadjuvant / adjuvant / perioperative](https://onco.cc/terms/neoadjuvant-adjuvant/)
- trials: [IDEA collaboration](https://onco.cc/trials/idea-collaboration/), [TOSCA](https://onco.cc/trials/tosca/)
- people: [Rachel Kerr](https://onco.cc/people/rachel-kerr/)

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JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/entities/scot.json