# STAR-TREC

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

## TL;DR

The UK-led trial asking whether people with rectal cancer can keep their rectum: give radiotherapy, see how the tumour responds, and operate only if it has to be removed.

## Summary

STAR-TREC is the British answer to the organ-preservation question the American PROSPECT trial approached from the other direction. It randomised people with early and intermediate stage rectal cancer between total mesorectal excision and two response-adapted radiotherapy schedules, long-course chemoradiotherapy or short-course radiotherapy, each followed by assessment and either watchful waiting or local excision. Its 12-month results, published in Lancet Oncology in 2026 with Simon Bach as first author and David Sebag-Montefiore as second, are the first randomised comparison of the two radiotherapy schedules for organ preservation. NICE NG151 recommendation 1.3.7 already tells teams to warn people who defer surgery after a complete response that recurrence is possible and to encourage them into a trial with data collected in a national registry, which is what STAR-TREC provides.

## Fields

- Kind: Trial
- Status: active
- Last checked: 2026-09-24
- Also known as: ISRCTN14240288
- Tags: uk; rectal; organ-preservation
- Registry id: ISRCTN14240288
- Phase: 3
- Setting: Organ preservation in early and intermediate rectal cancer: long-course chemoradiotherapy against short-course radiotherapy, both followed by response assessment and either watch and wait or local excision, against total mesorectal excision; 34 centres in England, Scotland, Wales, Denmark and the Netherlands; recruitment closed 31 December 2023, follow-up to 2027
- Sponsor: University of Birmingham
- Enrolled: 344

## Sources

- Lancet Oncology 2026: 12-month results: https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42633754
- ISRCTN14240288: https://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN14240288

## Connected records

- cancers: [Colorectal cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/colorectal/), [Rectal cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/rectal-cancer/)
- fronts: [Radiation Therapy](https://onco.cc/fronts/radiation/), [Surgery & Interventional](https://onco.cc/fronts/surgery/)
- institutions: [Leeds Cancer Centre, St James's University Hospital](https://onco.cc/institutions/leeds-cancer-centre/), [University Hospitals Birmingham / University of Birmingham Cancer Research Centre](https://onco.cc/institutions/birmingham-cancer-centre/)
- terms: [Clinical complete response (cCR)](https://onco.cc/terms/clinical-complete-response/)
- people: [David Sebag-Montefiore](https://onco.cc/people/david-sebag-montefiore/), [Dion Morton](https://onco.cc/people/dion-morton/)

---
JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/entities/star-trec.json