Gemcitabine-based adjuvant chemotherapy for patients with advanced gallbladder cancer.

AIM

We investigated effects of gemcitabine-based adjuvant chemotherapy (GEM) on prognosis of patients with gallbladder cancer.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

We retrospectively analyzed outcomes of 36 patients who underwent radical resection for gallbladder cancer from 2001 through to 2012, using χ(2) for prognostic factors and Kaplan-Meier estimator and log-rank tests for survival data.

RESULTS

The GEM group had higher rates of lymph node positivity and distant metastasis, higher UICC stage and fewer R0 resections; their 5-year survival rate (60%) did not significantly differ from that of the controls (70.0%), nor was GEM a significant prognostic factor in univariate analysis. However, among patients who underwent R1 and R2 resections, GEM significantly improved prognosis in both univariate and multivariate analyses. Median survival of the R1/2 GEM group (66.4 months) was significantly better than that of controls (5.4 months) (p=0.002).

CONCLUSION

GEM improved prognosis of patients with gallbladder cancer after R1/R2 resections.