*NHMRC Clinical Trials Centre, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia;

†Australasian Gastro-Intestinal Trials Group;

‡Institute of Academic Surgery, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia;

§Wesley Hospital, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia;

¶The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Adelaide, Australia;

||University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia;

**Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia;

††Auckland Hospital, Auckland, New Zealand;

‡‡John Flynn Hospital, Queensland, Australia;

§§Tweed Heads Hospital, Tweed Heads, NSW, Australia;

¶¶Bankstown-Lidcombe Hospital, Sydney, Australia;

||||Prince of Wales Private Hospital, Sydney, Australia; and

***Sydney South West Private Hospital, Sydney, Australia.

[email protected]

Role of the Study Sponsor: The ALaCaRT trial was conducted under the auspices of the AGiTG, the legal sponsor, independently of the funders. The funding sources had no role in the design and conduct of the study; collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data; preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript; and decision to submit the manuscript for publication.

Trial registration: ANZCTR.org Identifier: ACTRN12609000663257.

Funding: The study was supported by grants from the Colorectal Surgical Society of Australia and New Zealand (CSSANZ) Foundation, the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC 1009973 and 1078113), and the Queensland Cancer Council. Trial management and statistical support was undertaken by the NHMRC Clinical Trials Centre (CTC). The Australasian Gastrointestinal Trials Group (AGITG) was the legal sponsor. The trial was registered with the Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trial Registry, ACTRN12609000663257. The lead author was supported by a NHMRC Early Career Fellowship (APP1138100).

The authors report no conflict of interest.

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