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Condition (MeSH)

Rectal Diseases

ClinicalTrials.gov lists 8,736 trials for Rectal Diseases or a narrower condition beneath it. National Cancer Institute (NCI) has the most among industry and government lead sponsors, with 179.

MeSH D012002 Digestive System Diseases C06
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Phase 1 Phase 1 1,017 Phase 1/2 Phase 1/2 556 Phase 2 Phase 2 1,759 Phase 2/3 Phase 2/3 116 Phase 3 Phase 3 623 Phase 4 Phase 4 169 Not applicable Not applicable 2,447 Observational Observational 2,037 Phase 1 Phase 1 1,017 Phase 1/2 Phase 1/2 556 Phase 2 Phase 2 1,759 Phase 2/3 Phase 2/3 116 Phase 3 Phase 3 623 Phase 4 Phase 4 169 Not applicable Not applicable 2,447 Observational Observational 2,037

Trials per phase (log scale)

1 more section with rows

87 of the 8,736 trials are tagged with Rectal Diseases itself; the rest are tagged with a narrower condition beneath it.

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When did Rectal Diseases trials start? (37)

Shown in this order: most recent first, 1990 onwards. 2026 is partial: trials registered with a 2026 start date so far, not a full year. 8 trials are registered to start in 2027 or later, and not listed here.

Trials over time, by phase

  • Phase 1
  • Phase 1/2
  • Phase 2
  • Phase 2/3
  • Phase 3
  • Phase 4
  • Not applicable
  • Observational

Top of scale: 566

1990: 1 trials (Not applicable 1) 1991: 4 trials (Observational 1, Phase 3 2, Phase 2 1) 1992: 2 trials (Phase 3 1, Phase 2/3 1) 1993: 12 trials (Observational 3, Not applicable 1, Phase 3 7, Phase 2 1) 1994: 9 trials (Observational 1, Phase 3 5, Phase 2 2, Phase 1 1) 1995: 8 trials (Observational 1, Phase 3 1, Phase 2 3, Phase 1 3) 1996: 10 trials (Observational 1, Not applicable 1, Phase 3 3, Phase 2 4, Phase 1 1) 1997: 24 trials (Observational 1, Not applicable 4, Phase 3 5, Phase 2 4, Phase 1/2 5, Phase 1 5) 1998: 43 trials (Observational 8, Not applicable 2, Phase 4 2, Phase 3 9, Phase 2 9, Phase 1/2 2, Phase 1 11) 1999: 51 trials (Observational 6, Not applicable 6, Phase 4 1, Phase 3 10, Phase 2/3 1, Phase 2 15, Phase 1/2 3, Phase 1 9) 2000: 62 trials (Observational 8, Not applicable 5, Phase 3 13, Phase 2 18, Phase 1/2 9, Phase 1 9) 2001: 77 trials (Observational 4, Not applicable 1, Phase 3 15, Phase 2/3 1, Phase 2 34, Phase 1/2 7, Phase 1 15) 2002: 92 trials (Observational 14, Not applicable 9, Phase 4 4, Phase 3 12, Phase 2 34, Phase 1/2 6, Phase 1 13) 2003: 108 trials (Observational 18, Not applicable 11, Phase 4 3, Phase 3 21, Phase 2/3 2, Phase 2 32, Phase 1/2 5, Phase 1 16) 2004: 125 trials (Observational 12, Not applicable 16, Phase 4 3, Phase 3 17, Phase 2/3 7, Phase 2 49, Phase 1/2 10, Phase 1 11) 2005: 159 trials (Observational 20, Not applicable 33, Phase 4 16, Phase 3 20, Phase 2/3 1, Phase 2 42, Phase 1/2 9, Phase 1 18) 2006: 204 trials (Observational 41, Not applicable 28, Phase 4 6, Phase 3 27, Phase 2/3 3, Phase 2 63, Phase 1/2 10, Phase 1 26) 2007: 217 trials (Observational 42, Not applicable 41, Phase 4 11, Phase 3 26, Phase 2 57, Phase 1/2 15, Phase 1 25) 2008: 226 trials (Observational 49, Not applicable 49, Phase 4 9, Phase 3 28, Phase 2/3 3, Phase 2 57, Phase 1/2 13, Phase 1 18) 2009: 260 trials (Observational 58, Not applicable 52, Phase 4 7, Phase 3 18, Phase 2/3 3, Phase 2 74, Phase 1/2 20, Phase 1 28) 2010: 276 trials (Observational 56, Not applicable 73, Phase 4 2, Phase 3 24, Phase 2/3 7, Phase 2 61, Phase 1/2 18, Phase 1 35) 2011: 276 trials (Observational 62, Not applicable 65, Phase 4 9, Phase 3 25, Phase 2/3 6, Phase 2 65, Phase 1/2 12, Phase 1 32) 2012: 290 trials (Observational 87, Not applicable 69, Phase 4 12, Phase 3 14, Phase 2/3 5, Phase 2 62, Phase 1/2 18, Phase 1 23) 2013: 294 trials (Observational 64, Not applicable 107, Phase 4 9, Phase 3 23, Phase 2/3 3, Phase 2 54, Phase 1/2 10, Phase 1 24) 2014: 290 trials (Observational 67, Not applicable 78, Phase 4 3, Phase 3 28, Phase 2/3 3, Phase 2 57, Phase 1/2 21, Phase 1 33) 2015: 323 trials (Observational 70, Not applicable 125, Phase 4 3, Phase 3 22, Phase 2/3 5, Phase 2 57, Phase 1/2 13, Phase 1 28) 2016: 361 trials (Observational 88, Not applicable 110, Phase 4 6, Phase 3 25, Phase 2/3 4, Phase 2 54, Phase 1/2 24, Phase 1 50) 2017: 360 trials (Observational 84, Not applicable 140, Phase 4 3, Phase 3 9, Phase 2/3 7, Phase 2 48, Phase 1/2 24, Phase 1 45) 2018: 415 trials (Observational 113, Not applicable 124, Phase 4 7, Phase 3 19, Phase 2/3 5, Phase 2 76, Phase 1/2 31, Phase 1 40) 2019: 418 trials (Observational 113, Not applicable 119, Phase 4 5, Phase 3 21, Phase 2/3 4, Phase 2 80, Phase 1/2 28, Phase 1 48) 2020: 492 trials (Observational 146, Not applicable 144, Phase 4 7, Phase 3 30, Phase 2/3 5, Phase 2 68, Phase 1/2 33, Phase 1 59) 2021: 487 trials (Observational 149, Not applicable 155, Phase 4 4, Phase 3 22, Phase 2/3 5, Phase 2 69, Phase 1/2 30, Phase 1 53) 2022: 525 trials (Observational 157, Not applicable 166, Phase 4 3, Phase 3 20, Phase 2/3 7, Phase 2 91, Phase 1/2 29, Phase 1 52) 2023: 566 trials (Observational 133, Not applicable 197, Phase 4 7, Phase 3 22, Phase 2/3 8, Phase 2 101, Phase 1/2 32, Phase 1 66) 2024: 561 trials (Observational 137, Not applicable 171, Phase 4 7, Phase 3 24, Phase 2/3 5, Phase 2 92, Phase 1/2 38, Phase 1 87) 2025: 544 trials (Observational 109, Not applicable 171, Phase 4 10, Phase 3 23, Phase 2/3 7, Phase 2 119, Phase 1/2 35, Phase 1 70)

Trials registered with a start date in each year, 1990 onward, stacked by phase (complete years only; the current partial year is in the table's notes). The table below lists the same counts, most recent years first.

Trials started per year
Year Trials started
2026 (partial year) 505
2025 544
2024 561
2023 566
2022 525
2021 487
2020 492
2019 418
2018 415
2017 360

Forecast of the full-year count, planned starts included, not rows of this table: about 630 trials starting in 2026 and about 560 in 2027, the average of the 24 months through September, counted as registered and carried forward, with about 0.7 times the starts already registered for the rest of 2026 added. The rows of this table count trials registered so far with a start date in the year, planned starts included; the forecast looks ahead to the count for the whole year, so it is not the same measure. In backtests on conditions of this size, forecasts made part-way through the year were typically off by about 10 percent and ran about 4 percent high against the count later registered; forecasts made before the year began were off by about 25 percent and ran about 15 percent low against the count later registered, and had about 7 percent more error than repeating last year's count. The part-way figures are from forecasts that used a multiple fitted only on earlier years. A stricter check that trains only on older years did not support adding planned starts for conditions of this size: it ran about 6 percent high against the count later registered. These figures rest on a few years of history (target years from 2018 to 2025, varying by figure), place each condition as it is mapped today rather than as it was then, and score against a count for the newest year that was still being revised. Only condition series were scored.

Prediction, not a registry value: median of 36 months from start to primary completion across 1,088 trials still running at the 2026-10-09 snapshot; registered median of 32 months across 4,711 trials with a primary completion typed Actual. Source: ClinicalTrials.gov / AACT (CTTI), public domain.

What phase are Rectal Diseases trials in? (9)

Shown in this order: phase order.

Show the trials by phase as a table
Trials by phase
Phase Trials
Phase 1 1,017
Phase 1/2 556
Phase 2 1,759
Phase 2/3 116
Phase 3 623
Phase 4 169
Not applicable 2,447
Observational 2,037
Expanded access 12

How many Rectal Diseases trials are recruiting? (12)

Shown in this order: the order a trial moves through, from not yet recruiting to unknown.

Trials by recruitment status
Status Trials
Not yet recruiting 470
Recruiting 1,299
Enrolling by invitation 56
Active, not recruiting 450
Available 4

Status as registered on ClinicalTrials.gov. Each trial is counted once.

Which lead sponsors run the most Rectal Diseases trials? (5)

Shown in this order: most trials first. Lead sponsors the registry classes as industry, NIH, US federal, other government or network. A hospital or university the registry files as government can appear here. Sponsors it classes as academic or other are shown on the full page, because that class cannot separate an institution from a named investigator.

Lead sponsors
Sponsor Trials
National Cancer Institute (NCI) 179
Hoffmann-La Roche 86
Pfizer 51
Amgen 40
Eli Lilly and Company 39

Which drugs are being tested for Rectal Diseases? (8)

Shown in this order: most trials first. One row per drug, matched to a single molecule under all its names, ranked by number of trials.

Drugs tested
Drug Trials
OXALIPLATIN 432
"Capecitabine" 356
Irinotecan 351
Calcium Leucovorin 311
CETUXIMAB 299

Interventions as named in the registry (7)

Shown in this order: most trials first.

Interventions as named in the registry
Drug Trials
Fluorouracile 467
Bevacizumab 1 416
Regorafenib Pill 101
Radiation Therapy 82
FOLFIRI 80

These are the names sponsors entered on ClinicalTrials.gov that we have not matched to a single molecule. Some are drugs under a brand or code name; others are procedures, doses or arm labels.

Which serious adverse events do Rectal Diseases trials report? (10)

Shown in this order: most subjects affected first. Subjects affected summed across trials, a cross-trial signal, not a rate.

Serious adverse events in this condition's trials
Adverse event Subjects affected Trials
Diarrhoea 1,883 204
Vomiting 1,353 285
Pyrexia 1,285 203
Abdominal pain 1,283 265
Dehydration 1,188 252

Which publications cover Rectal Diseases? (339)

Shown in this order: major-topic papers first, then newest, then most linked to trials.

Sub-conditions in MeSH (9)

MeSH descendants one level down with at least one trial, most trials first.

Not on this page

Not measured: delivery record.

Checked, with nothing recorded for this condition: prevalence and rare-disease identity.

Browse all condition evidence pages