Narrative review: current management and novel targeted therapies in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE

Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (iCCA) is a rare hepatic malignancy with poor prognosis, which has seen an increased incidence over the last decade. Most patients present with advanced disease that is not amenable to surgical resection, and those who are able to undergo resection, frequently develop recurrent disease. With the rise of precision medicine, several targetable mutations have been described for iCCA and are currently under investigations. The development of improved targeted therapies is critical to prolonged overall survival (OS), and the use of targeted agents for iCCA is currently the focus of several ongoing randomized controlled trials. The objective of this review is to summarize current guidelines for diagnosis, surgical resection, and systemic treatment, which includes ongoing clinical trials investigated targeted therapies.

METHODS

A comprehensive review was performed using MEDLINE/PubMed with the end search date of October 1, 2022. In PubMed the terms "intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma," "bile duct cancer", "targeted therapies", and "clinical trials" were searched.

KEY CONTENT AND FINDINGS

The mainstay of treatment for iCCA is R0 resection with lymphadenectomy. Following surgical resection, new guidelines recommend 6 months of adjuvant capecitabine. Among patients with advanced or metastatic disease, systemic chemotherapy plays a significant role in prolonging survival for these patients.

CONCLUSIONS

Surgical resection represents the mainstay of treatment followed by 6 months of adjuvant capecitabine. While additional data is needed through randomized controlled trials, targeted therapies including fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR), isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH), and erythroblastic oncogene B2 (ErbB2) inhibitors offer promising results as adjuncts to current standard of care in iCCA, particularly among individuals with unresectable disease. Future recommendations regarding the use of targeted therapy will emerge as clinical trial data become available.