Prolonged survival in advanced gallbladder cancer following tislelizumab combined with chemotherapy: Case report and literature review.

RATIONALE

Gallbladder cancer (GBC) is a highly aggressive cancer. When treated using standard chemotherapy, the median overall survival is <1 year. Immune checkpoint inhibitors such as pembrolizumab or durvalumab combined with chemotherapy show promise. However, those immune checkpoint inhibitors are very expensive. Tislelizumab may offer a more affordable alternative for advanced GBC.

PATIENT CONCERNS

We report on the case of a 70-year-old patient with GBC who, after experiencing disease progression following standard second-line chemotherapy, was excluded from participating in a clinical trial due to poor performance status.

DIAGNOSES

The patient was diagnosed with stage IVB (TxN2M0) GBC.

INTERVENTIONS

He was treated with tislelizumab in combination with oxaliplatin and capecitabine.

OUTCOMES

The patient had a progression-free survival of 7 months and overall survival of 16 months. The overall overall survival from the onset of the disease was 23 months.

LESSONS

The administration of tislelizumab improved survival in a patient with advanced gallbladder cancer. Tislelizumab emerged as a potential more cost-effective alternative option to pembrolizumab or durvalumab in our treatment strategy. These findings provide the basis for large-scale clinical trials to confirm the efficacy of tislelizumab for GBC.