Treatment efficacy/safety and prognostic factors in patients with advanced biliary tract cancer receiving gemcitabine monotherapy: an analysis of 100 cases.

AIM

The purpose of this study was to elucidate the treatment efficacy and safety of gemcitabine monotherapy, and to identify prognostic factors in patients with advanced biliary tract cancer receiving this therapy.

METHOD

The data of 100 patients with advanced biliary tract cancer who were treated with gemcitabine as first-line chemotherapy were reviewed retrospectively.

RESULTS

One patient showed complete response (1.0%) and 6 patients showed partial response (6.0%), yielding an overall response rate of 7.0%. The main grade 3/4 toxicities were neutropenia and leukopenia. The median survival, 1-year survival rate and progression-free survival were 7.3 months, 21.6% and 3.1 months, respectively. Multivariate analysis identified a performance status of 0-1, serum C-reactive protein level of <3.0 mg/dl, serum carcinoembryonic antigen level of <10 ng/ml and serum albumin level of ≥ 3.5 g/dl as factors independently associated with a favorable prognosis.

CONCLUSIONS

Gemcitabine monotherapy showed modest efficacy with manageable toxicity in patients with biliary tract cancer. These results could be useful as reference data for optimizing treatment strategies and planning future clinical trials in patients with advanced biliary tract cancer.